


The House at the End of the Street

by sillylourry



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Homelessness, M/M, Underage - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-25
Updated: 2014-03-16
Packaged: 2017-12-30 09:58:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 21
Words: 44,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1017232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sillylourry/pseuds/sillylourry
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Inspired by <a href="http://media.tumblr.com/a428737be8cf8bb495c1d5f9e2ab73d1/tumblr_inline_mv798bHntG1rnesqr.jpg">this</a> picture. Harry is 7 and Louis is 9. Louis is homeless and Harry gives him orange juice.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Orange Juice

**Author's Note:**

> I also kind of got the idea from the movie Santa Clause: The Movie. 
> 
> This is my first chaptered fic for Louis and Harry! I'll try to post once a week but it really depends on how crazy school is! Please let me know what you guys think!

There is a house on the end of Bloomers Street. It is bigger than all the other houses. It’s a lot nicer too. It’s the house that all the neighborhood kids go to first on Halloween, because it gives out the best candy. It’s the house that everybody wishes they lived in, because living in this house made you automatically more important than everyone else on the street. It’s the house that Harry Styles has lived in all his life, and it’s the place he hates most.

“No! You listen to me!” Harry can hear his uncle shout into the phone. He grumbles and rolls onto his back. Even though their rooms are on separate floors, Harry can hear his uncle making his late night work calls almost every night. They are loud and hard to ignore, but Harry is always thankful when his uncle’s lurid screams are directed at someone other than him, so he never complains.

He stares at the cracks in the ceiling until his vision becomes blurry. He closes his eyes and throws his pillow over his head, hoping to block out as much sound as possible. Seconds after he has fallen asleep, a clap of thunder shakes him awake. He sits up, pushes his blanket off his legs, and hops out of bed. He runs up to the window just in time to see the first raindrops fall from the sky. He watches as they hit the ground, making dark marks on the sidewalk.

Out of the corner of his eye, he sees something curled up behind the garbage can next to his house. He stands on his toes and leans forward, pressing his nose up against the window, trying to see what it is. The object is curled up under what seems to be a green blanket. Harry pulls away from the window and wipes the fog he made with his breath off it before running over to his closet. He pulls out his yellow rain boots and pulls them on over his footie pajamas.

He walks quietly to the door, and slowly turns the doorknob until he hears a click. The door opens with limited creaking until there is a space wide enough for Harry to slip through. He makes his way quietly down the hallway, until he reaches a flight of stairs. Since his room is on the second floor, he only has to walk down one flight. He waits until he can hear his uncle in the middle of a sentence, and then he begins to walk.

He takes his first step and his rain boot squeaks. He cringes and looks up at the stairs above him. His uncle’s voice stops. He stays perfectly still until he can hear his uncle talking again. He lets out a sigh of relief and takes his boots off. He puts them on his hands and quietly walks down the stairs. When he gets to the bottom, he runs to the door. He drops the boots to ground and slips his feet into them. 

During the few minutes that it took him to get downstairs, it had started to pour. Harry opens the door and is immediately hit with wind and rain. He closes his eyes and walks outside, closing the door behind him. He runs to the side of the house, where the garbage cans are kept. The wind is so strong, that he can barely keep his eyes open.

“Hello?” He whispers. “Is anybody out here?” He walks closer until he can see the green blanket that he had seen from his window. “I can see you.” He says. The figure lifts its head up and turn to look at him. It was a boy.  He had brown hair that was matted to his forehead because of the rain. It covered his eyes and most of his ears.  “What are you doing out here?” Harrys asks. The boy doesn’t answer. A gust of wind blows into Harry, almost knocking him down. He holds onto the side of the house for balance. “Well,” He whispers. “It’s really cold out here and my pajamas are getting wet. I’m going to go inside. Would you like to come?”

The boy doesn’t do anything for a few seconds. Harry is about to turn and leave when the boy speaks. “Can I?” He asks, his voice small and brittle. Harry nods.

“Sure. You just have to be quiet. My uncle doesn’t let me have friends sleepover, and I don’t even know you, so he’d probably kick you out.” He says. The boy gets up from behind the trashcan and walks over to him. “This way.” Harry says, walking around the corner of the house and up to the front door.

“When we get inside, take your shoes off.” He whispers. The boy looks down at his feet. Harry follows and looks down to see that the boy isn’t wearing any shoes. All he has on are a pair of dirty socks with a hole in one of the toes. Harry looks back up at him and knits his eyebrows in confusion. He was about to ask why the boy wasn’t wear any shoes, when a few pieces of hail fell onto the ground. He quickly opens the door and runs in, pulling the boy behind him. He shuts the door quietly and pulls off his boots. “Follow me.” He whispers, walking over to the stairs.

He takes the stairs two steps at a time. Every couple of steps, he looks behind him to see if the boy is still following. When they finally get to the second floor, Harry tiptoes down the hallway. He stops at his door and waits for the other boy to catch up. He doesn’t bother being quiet this time, and quickly opens the door. He runs inside and jumps onto his bed, kicking his boots off on the way over.

“Can you close the door?” He asks. The boy nods and shuts the door quietly. Harry shoves his body under his comforter and snuggles his face into the pillow. “I’m so cold.” He says.

The boy stands awkwardly in the middle of the room. “Thanks for letting me in.” He says. Harry lifts his head from his pillow and smiles.

“You’re welcome! You can come over here if you want. My blanket is pretty big. We’ll both fit under it.” He says, moving over so that there is enough room on his bed for the both of them. “But take your socks off please. They’re pretty gross and the cleaning lady doesn’t come to wash my sheets until Tuesday.”

The boy looks down at his feet. He reaches down, pulls his socks off, and sets them by the door. He shuffles over to the bed, but hesitates before getting in. “You sure?” He asks. Harry nods.

“Of course! You’re probably colder than I am.” He laughs, lifting up the blanket. The boy slips under the covers and turns to face Harry.

“Thanks.” He whispers. Harry smiles.

“What’s your name?” He asks.

“Louis, what’s yours?” The boy answers.

“I’m Harry.” Harry says. “I live here with my uncle.” Louis nods his head.

“Yeah I know. I see you guys sometimes.” He ducks his head under his arm and sneezes.

“Bless you.” Harry says. “So does that mean you live on my street?” He asks. Louis sneezes again. “Did you just move here, because I haven’t seen you before?”

Louis looks down at Harrys blanket and traces the patterns with his finger. “No, I don’t live here.” He says. “I don’t live anywhere.”

“What do you mean?” Harry asks. Louis sneezes again. “Wow, you sure are sneezing a lot.” He puts his hand up to Louis’ forehead. “And your face is warm. You must be sick.” He says, moving away from Louis.

“I’m sorry.” Louis whispers. He starts to get out of bed, when Harry stops him.

“No, no.” He insists, pushing Louis back down. “You stay here and rest. I’m going to go get you some orange juice. That’s what my mummy always gave me when I was sick.” He crawls off his bed and pads over to the closets. He pulls out his warmest pair of footie pajamas and tosses them onto his bed. “Put these on while I’m gone.” He whispers, opening the door. “I think you’re sick cause you’ve been out in the cold. These will keep you warm.” Louis smiles and Harry walks out of his room, closing the door behind him. He glances at the grandfather clock in the middle of the hallway. 12:56. His uncle had gone to bed about 20 minutes ago.

Since he didn’t have to worry about his uncle hearing him, getting Louis orange juice didn’t take long at all. “Here you go.” He says, handing Louis the glass. Louis puts the glass up to his lips and takes a long sip. He drinks until he makes a disgusted face, and pulls the glass away. “Is there something wrong?” Harry asks, jumping back onto his bed. He lifts up the covers and slides in next to Louis.

“No it’s fine.” Louis says, setting the glass on Harry’s bedside table. “Just kinda pulpy.”

Harry crinkles his nose in disgust. “Oh yeah I forgot.” He whispers. “My uncle likes it with pulp. I think it’s gross.” 

“It’s definitely not my favorite.” Louis laughs. “But thank you anyway. It was really nice of you.”

“You don’t have to thank me, Louis.” He yawns. “I’m getting pretty tired, so I think I’m going to sleep. If you need to go to the bathroom, wake me up first so I can see if my uncle is awake.” Louis nods and pulls Harry’s blanket up to his chin.

“Goodnight, Harry.” He whispers.

“Goodnight, Louis” Harry whispers back.

 

 


	2. Scented Soap

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by [this](http://media.tumblr.com/a428737be8cf8bb495c1d5f9e2ab73d1/tumblr_inline_mv798bHntG1rnesqr.jpg) picture. Harry is 7 and Louis is 9. Louis is homeless and Harry gives him orange juice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this is kind of short and I'm sorry! The next one will be longer! Please let me know what you think :)

Harry wakes up the next morning with a sore throat and a red nose. He shields his eyes from the sunlight, pouring in from the window. He grumbles and rolls over so that he can face Louis. In the light, Harry can see that Louis has dirt all over his face. It’s the caked on kind of dirt too, the kind of dirt that will probably take an hour to wash off. He can also see how pale Louis is. He looks a lot more sick now than he had the night before.

Carefully, Harry gets off the bed, trying not to wake Louis up. He sluggishly makes his way across his room and opens the door. From the hallway, Harry can see their maid, Lou, vacuuming downstairs. He smiles and paces over to the staircase.

“Hi Lou!” He calls from halfway down the stairs. She looks up and smiles. When Harry gets to the bottom, she turns off the vacuum and walks over to him.

“Good morning, Harry! How are you?” She asks, leading Harry in the direction of the kitchen.

“I’m ok. I think I’m getting sick.” He says, running the sleeve of his pajamas under his nose. Lou nods and opens the kitchen door. She sits him down at the table a takes the seat next to him.

“You sound like it.” She says. “You seemed fine yesterday though. What happened?” She laughs. Harry shrugs his shoulders.

“I went out in the cold last night. That might be it.” He says. Lou gives him a confused look.

“Why were you out in the cold last night, Harry.” She asks, sounding disappointed in him. Harry doesn’t answer for a few seconds. She raises one of her eyebrows, waiting for an answer.

“Can you keep a secret?” Harry asks, leaning forward. Lou nods. “You promise?” She nods again. Harry smiles. “There’s a boy in my room.” He says, swinging his feet with excitement.

Lou stands up from the table and walks out of the room. Harry gets up quickly and follows. He runs ahead of her and stops in front of the stairs. He sticks his arms out, so that his hands can hold on to both banisters. Lou stops in front of him and crosses her arms.

“Harry please move.” She says. Harry shakes his head. “Harry.” She says again, her voice getting louder. Harry strengthens his hold on the banisters.

“Please don’t make him leave.” Harry begs. He can feel his eyes starting to fill up with water. Lou sighs.

“You know you’re not allowed to have friends sleep over, Harry.” She says softly. Harry looks down at his feet. “I’m just going to wake him up, and call his parents so that they can come pick him up. And this time, I won’t tell your uncle, but you need to listen to his rules from now on. Now please let me through.”

“But he’s sick.” Harry whispers. Lou leans forward.

“What did you say? I can’t hear you when you’re talking at the ground.” Harry lifts his head up.

“I said that he’s sick. And he would have slept outside by our garbage cans last night if I didn’t invite him in.” He says. Lou drops her arms to her sides and lets out a frustrated sigh.

“Fine.” She says. “I won’t make him go home. But can I please just go up there and make sure everything is ok?” She asks. He hesitates before dropping his arms. Lou smiles and wraps one of her arms around Harry’s shoulders. They walk up the stairs together. When they get to the top, Harry stops her.

“Has my uncle already left for work?” He whispers.

“Yes.” Lou says nodding. “He left about an hour ago.” She adds. Harry lets out a sigh of relief and tiptoes over to his door.

“You have to be very quiet.” He tells her. “Cause he might still be sleeping.” Lou smiles, nods, and puts her figure up to her lips. Harry slowly opens the door and they walk in. From the doorway, Harry can see Louis curled up in his blanket. His face is pressed into his pillow, and his arms are wrapped around his head, trying to keep sunlight from getting in. Harry giggles. Lou smiles down at Harry and looks back at the boy.

“You said he was sick, right?” She whispers. Harry nods.

“Yeah. He was outside in the rain and when I let him in, he kept sneezing and his face was hot. I told him to wear a pair of my pajamas and to drink some orange juice.” He says quietly, sounding proud of himself. Lou squeezes his shoulder.

“You did a very good job, but I think I’m going to have to wake him up to make sure he’s ok.” He whispers, walking over to the bed. Harry reaches out and grabs her hand.

“Be very gentle.” He murmurs. “I don’t like getting woken up when I’m sick, so he probably doesn’t either.”

“Oh of course.” Lou promises him. Harry smiles and lets go of her hand. She sits on the edge of the bed and begins to shake Louis awake. His eyes open a bit and he sits up. He stretches his arms out and yawns.

“Harry?” He asks, not fully opening his eyes. Harry runs over.

“Yeah I’m here!” He says. “How do you feel?” Louis shrugs and runs his fingers through his hair.

“I still feel a little sick, but I feel a lot better than I did yesterday.” He says, opening his eyes and looking at Harry. “Thank you for everything.” He turns his head to look at Lou, then he looks back at Harry. He tilts his head in confusion.

“I’m Lou.” She says, extending her hand out. Louis reaches out and shakes it.

“I’m Louis.” He smiles. “It’s nice to meet you.” He adds. Lou grins.

“It’s very nice too meet you too Louis. Would you like some breakfast? ” She asks, standing up from the bed. “I was just about to make Harry some pancakes when he told me you were here.” Louis nods his head enthusiastically.

“Yes please.” He says.

“Alright, they should be done in about a 15 minutes.” She tells them. Harry smiles and runs up to her.

“Can mine have chocolate chips in them?” He asks, licking his lips. “And can Louis have some too?”

Lou laughs. “I guess.” Harry smiles and hugs her, muttering a ‘thank you’ into her arm. When the hug is over, she waves goodbye to Louis and walks out of the room, closing the door behind her. Harry runs back over to his bed and sits next to Louis.

“Do you want to hang out here today?” He asks. “My uncle won’t be home until late tonight.”

Louis smiles. “Sure!” He says, climbing out of the covers. “What do you want to do?”

Harry thinks about it for a couple seconds. He looks all around the room, looking for something they could do. He sees a stack of pillows and blankets sitting on a chair in the corner of his room, and smiles. “We can make a pillow fort!” He suggests. Louis claps his hands with excitement.

“I haven’t done that in a long time.” He says. “My mom used to make the best pillow forts. They were so tall, I could stand in them. And she always made me hot chocolate to drink inside.” Louis smiles to himself and looks down . Harry grins.

“Maybe she can come over and help!” He says. “Or maybe we can go over to your house and make one.” Louis shakes his head.

“No, I told you, I don’t live anywhere.” He says quietly.

“Well why not?” Harry asks. He moves his legs so that he is sitting crisscross. He places his elbows on his knees, puts his chin in his hands, and looks up at Louis. Louis shrugs.

“I just don’t.” He mutters. Harry shakes his head.

“That’s not good, Louis. You need to find a home.” He says. Louis nods his head in agreement.

“Yeah, I know.” He whispers. “I was fine on the streets, but then it started to get cold.” Harry reaches out and pats his knee.

“You can keep my footie pajamas.” He says. “They’re too small on me, but they fit you perfectly.” He smiles. “How old are you?” He asks.

“Nine.” Louis replies.

“I’m seven.” Harry says. “Why are you smaller than me if you’re older than me?” Louis laughs.

“I don’t know.” He says. “Are you sure you’re really seven?” He says sarcastically. Harry knits his eyebrows and scratches his head.

“Well,” he says. “I don’t really know. I think I’m seven. People tell me I’m seven, but maybe they’re lying.” Louis starts giggling.

“I was just joking!” He smiles. Harry smiles back. There’s a knock on the door.

“Yeah?” Harry calls.

“Breakfast is almost ready!” Lou says, opening the door slightly. “You two should wash your hands and come down to the kitchen.”

“Ok!” Harry says, smiling. “We’ll be right down!” Lou nods and closes the door. Harry hops out of bed and runs into the bathroom that’s connected to his bedroom. Louis follows after him.

“You have a bathroom in here?” He asks, astonished.

“Yeah! I can pretty much live in here!” He giggles. He reaches his hand out and places it under the soap pump. “Smell the soap. It smells really good.” He says, pumping some into his hand. He brings his hand up to Louis’ nose.

“It does smell good!” Louis says, breathing in the scent. “What is it?” He asks.

“Strawberry shortcake.” Harry answers. “Lou takes me shopping with her once a month and I get to pick out the soap for my bathroom! It was coconut last month, and watermelon the month before that.”

Louis grins and pumps some soap into his hand, he brings it up to his nose and sniffs again. “I like this one.” He says, bringing his hand down. Harry nods and turns on the sink.

“Me too.” He says, putting his hands under the water. Louis does the same.

“Boys!” Lou calls from downstairs.

“We’re coming!” Harry yells back. He turns off the water and wipes his hands on his pajamas. “Come on, our pancakes are going to get cold if we take any longer. And after breakfast we can built the fort.” He says excitedly before running out of the bathroom. Louis smiles and runs after him.


	3. Pillow Forts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is the longest one yet (it's still pretty short though I'm sorry). There is a mention of abuse in this chapter, just a warning. And as always, please let me know what you think! :)

Louis and Harry sit down next to each other at the breakfast table. Lou places plates in front of them and one plate with a stack of pancakes on it in the middle of the table. Harry grins and leans across the table. He grabs 3 pancakes and plops himself back down on his chair. Lou glares at him. He rolls his eyes and puts one of the pancakes on Louis’ plate.

 

“Thanks.” Louis says, smiling at Harry. Harry nods and smiles back.

 

“Lou?” He asks. She raises an eyebrows. “Can I have syrup and whipped cream?” He asks, his eyes lighting up with excitement. She laughs and starts walking into the kitchen.

 

“Fine.” She says.

 

“And some powdered sugar?” He calls after her. Louis chuckles beside him. He turns to look at him. “What?” He asks.

 

“You remind me a lot of myself when I was younger.” He says. Harry gives him a confused look.

 

“What do you mean?” He asks, tilting his head. Louis shrugs.

 

“I can’t explain it.” He says. “You get so excited about things like  toppings on your pancakes and the scent of your hand soap. I was like that too.” He says, his voice getting quieter. Harry’s eyes get wide.

 

“But then you lost your house?” He asks innocently. Louis nods. Harry leans over and gives him a hug. Louis digs his face into the younger boys neck. He breathes in the scent of his watermelon smelling hair. It was sweet, calming, and nice. It was very much how Louis expected Harry’s hair to smell. He pulls back and smiles.

 

“Thanks for that.” He whispers. Harry grins.

 

“No problem! My mom always said that I give good hugs.” He says, sounding proud of himself. Louis nods.

 

“She was right.” He says. There’s a knock at the door and they look up to see Lou walking back in with whipped cream, syrup, and a box of powdered sugar. She sets them all down between the two boys.

 

“Alright.” She says. “I should get back to cleaning the living room.” Harry nods and reaches for the syrup. He flips open the lid and starts pouring it onto his pancakes. “Harry, your uncle is having very important people over for dinner tonight and wants you to be showered and looking presentable by the time they get here.” Lou continues. Harry switches the syrup for the powdered sugar and sprinkles it on. He shakes the box for a few seconds, until there are hundreds of little clumps of powdered sugar swimming in the pools of syrup. “Make sure Louis stays up in your room, because if your uncle sees him, he will be asked to leave. You got all that?” She asks.

 

“Yep.” Harry says, grabbing the whipped cream. He shakes it up and flips it over, spraying a mountain of it on top of his pancakes. He licks his lips and grabs his fork.

 

“Oh and Harry?” Lou says, stopping him. He looks up at her. “Next time, go a little easier on the toppings. This is breakfast, not dessert.” Harry chuckles and nods his head. She smiles and leaves the room.

 

“You can have some toppings too, if you want.” He says, sliding the whipped cream over to Louis. Louis shakes his head.

 

“No, that’s ok.” He says, grabbing his fork. He cuts a bite sized piece off the pancake and pops it into his mouth. Harry does the same. The table is quiet while the two eat their breakfast. Louis cuts his pancake into little pieces and Harry tries to copy him for the most part. However, about halfway through, Harry gets tired of it and ends up picking it up with his hands.  When they are done, Harry picks up both plates and runs into the kitchen. He sets them down in the sink and washes some of the syrup off his hands. When his hands are cleans, he walks back into the dining room, grabs Louis by the wrist, and leads him back upstairs. He stops at the top of the staircase and lets go of Louis.

 

“There’s a closet full of pillows and blankets on the third floor.” He says. “I’m going to go get some. You can go to my room and start on the fort.” Louis nods and starts walking down the hallway. Harry turns to the second staircase and starts running up. He gets to the top a few seconds later, and walks to the closet at the end of the hall. He opens the door and stands on his tiptoes, so that he can reach the pillows at the very top. When he has an arm full of pillows and blankets, he makes his way back downstairs. When he gets to the second floor, he tries to run as fast as he can to his room, dropping a pillow and tripping over it in the process. He picks himself up, and looks around, making sure nobody saw him. He gets to his door and pushes it open. He waddles over to his bed, trying to keep everything in his hands, and drops them on his bed.

 

“This should be enough.” He says. Louis looks over and smiles.

 

“That more than enough!” He says excitedly. Harry grins and picks one of the blankets up. He walks over to his desk, and drags the chair into the center of his room. He drapes the end of the blanket over the chair and then walks back over to his bed. He sets the other end of it on his bed.

 

“Can you get me the heaviest book you can find?” He asks, pointing to his bookshelf.

 

“Sure.” Louis says, walking over to it. He scans the selves until his eyes land on a dictionary. He pulls it out and jogs back over to Harry. “This ok?” He asks, handing Harry the book.

“Yeah it’s perfect!” Harry squeals, setting the book on top of the blanket. He lets go and takes a step back. The blanket doesnt move. “Good! It stays!” He says, clapping his hands.

 

Louis walks over to Harry’s closet. He looks inside and sees a folding chair. “Will this hold up the other end of the blanket up?” He asks, pulling the chair out of the closets. Harry looks over and nods.

 

“Yeah, that will work.” He says. Louis opens the chair and sets it beside one of the hanging sides of the blanket. He lifts the side up and puts it over the chair. Harry grabs one of the pillows and sets it on the chair, covering the hole between the backrest and the sitting part. They use the other pillows to put in front of any gaps in the fort. When they are sure that the inside is completely hidden from the outside world, Harry lifts up the last hanging side of the blanket and they both crawl in.

 

Louis looks around in amazement. “This is so cool!” He says. Harry giggles.

 

“I can’t see you at all!” He laughs. Louis chuckles and reaches his hand out. He reaches out until he pokes Harry.

 

“Ow!” Harry sheirks. Louis pulls his hand back. “You poked me in the eye!” Harry says between giggles.

 

“Sorry!” Louis says. “I just wanted to see where you were!” Harry stops giggling and pats the ground until his hand lands on Louis foot. He crawls forward so that he is sitting right next to him.

 

“I’m right next to you now.” He says. Louis starts to laugh.

 

“Yeah, I know! Your breath smells like syrup!” He giggles. Harry puts his hand in front of his mouth and breathes out. He quickly sniffs his nose and tries to breathe in the smell of his breath. He smiles.

 

“You’re right!” He says. Louis nods.

 

“I’m always right.” He declares. Harry tilts his head.

 

“You can’t always be right.” He says.

 

“I promise Harry, I’m always right.” He insists. Harry thinks about it for a few seconds before finally responding.

 

“Well, I guess you havent been wrong yet. So maybe you are always right.” He says, tapping his chin. “Plus, you’re older than me, so you probably know more stuff.” He adds a few moments later. Louis nods.

 

“I’m glad we agree.” He says. “Do you have a flashlight?” He asks. “I dont like talking to you without being able to see you.”

 

“Yeah it’s kind of difficult.” Harry agrees. “I think I have one in my bedside drawer. I’ll go see.” He says, crawling out from the fort. His eyes take a second to adjust to the light. When he can see, he gets up and walks over to the drawer. He opens it, and a flashlight rolls to the front.

 

“I have one!” He shouts to Louis. He can hear Louis clapping from inside the fort. He laughs and walks back over. He lifts the blanket up and crawls in.

 

“Hey!” He says, sitting back down next to Louis. “What do you want to do?” He asks. Louis shrugs and takes the flashlight from him. He flicks it on and the fort lights up.

 

“I don’t know.” He says. “What do you want to do?”

 

Harry props his arm up on his knee and rests his chin in his hands. He thinks for about a minute. “I have an idea!” He says, his head shooting up in excitement. “What if the flashlight is the secret stick and whoever is holding it has to tell the other person a secret.” He suggests. Louis looks down at the flashlight in his hands.

 

“Ok.” He says. “I guess that means I go first.” He tosses the flashlight back and forth in his hands. “Umm. I killed my goldfish when I was five.” He says. Harry’s mouth drops in shock.

 

“Why would you do that?” He whispers.

 

“I wanted to pet it, so I took it out of it’s bowl and it died.” He says, laughing at Harry. “It’s not like I meant to.” He adds. Harry whispers ‘good’ to himself and takes the flashlight from Louis.

 

“I stole my uncle’s favorite tie out of his closet.” He says proudly. Louis giggles.

 

“Why?” He asks.

 

“Because I dont like him.” He says loudly. He lowers his voice and says, “And sometimes I dress up in all my fancy clothes when my friend Cher comes over and we have a pretend wedding and I like to have a nice tie.”

 

“Why are you whispering?” Louis asks.

 

“Because Lou doesnt know that I took his tie and she also doesnt really like Cher and wouldn’t like that I pretend to marry her.” He says quietly.

 

“Do you want to pretend marry her?” Louis questions. Harry shrugs.

 

“Not really. She’s the one that likes to play wedding. I like to play house more.” He says. Louis starts to laugh.

 

“You dont have to pretend marry her if you dont want to!”

 

“Yeah, I guess.” Harry says, passing Louis the flashlight. “Your turn.” He says. Louis grumbles and takes the flashlight.

 

“Ok but you have to promise not to laugh.” He whispers, sticking out his pinky. Harry nods, links his with Louis’, and they shake. “Last year at school, I peed my pants, and told everyone that the water fountain sprayed me.” He says, so quietly that Harry had to lean in to hear him. Harry smiles and throws his hand over his mouth, to keep himself from laughing. “You promise you wouldnt laugh!” Louis cries, punching Harry lightly on the shoulder. Harry chuckles and moves his hand to hold his shoulder.

 

“I didnt laugh!” He says. Louis smiles and tosses Harry the flashlight.

 

“You were about to.” He grumbles. Harry giggles in response and picks the flashlight up from the place that it landed.

 

“Ok, umm, I get hit by my uncle sometimes.” He whispers. Louis’ eyes widen.

 

“Harry,” he whispers. “You have to tell someone!” He insists. Harry shakes his head.

 

“He’s the only one left in my family.” Harry whispers, his voice catching in his throat. “He said they’ll throw me in a home if it weren’t for him.” Tears start to form in the corners of his eyes. Louis leans over and wraps his arms around him. Harry put his head in the crook of Louis’ neck.

He breathes in slowly, trying to calm down.

 

“Do you want me to tell a secret?” Louis asks into Harry’s hair. Harry nods. “Ok.” Louis says, pulling back. “I kissed a boy once.” He whispers. Harry tilts his head in confusion.

 

“Was he in your family?” Harry asks. Louis shakes his head. Harry scratches his head. “That’s fine I guess.” He says after a few seconds. “I mean, kissing a boy isnt really that different from kissing a girl. At least, I dont think it is.” Harry adds. Louis smiles.

 

“Harry, do you want to be best friends?” He asks.

 

“What does a best friend have to do that’s different from what a normal friend does?” Harry asks.

 

“Well,” Louis explains. “They tell each other secrets and hang out more than other friends do. They also help each other whenever one of them needs help. They have jokes that nobody else really gets, but they think they’re really funny.  And they are friends forever, like, even when they’re old and stuff, they never stop being friends.” Harry’s eyes widen with excitement.

 

“Oh cool!” He says. “I’ve never had a best friend before. Of course we can be best friends!” He says, smiling. Louis smiles back.

 

“Good.” He says, leaning forward to give Harry a hug. There’s a knock at the door, which startles both boys.

 

“Lou?” Harry calls out.

 

“Yes, Harry, it’s me.” She answers. Harry lifts up the blanket and crawls out of the fort. He shuffles over to the door and opens it.

 

“What’s up?” He asks.

 

“Your uncle will be home in about two hours. I have to go to the store and get a few things, so you boys will be here alone for about a half hour. Harry, I want you showered by the time I get back. Ok?” She asks. Harry nods his head. Lou looks into the room and sees the fort. “That will have to be put away before he gets home.” She says. Harry moans in protest.

 

“But we worked really hard on it.” He whines. Lou laughs and pats his shoulder.

 

“I dont make the rules, Harry.” She says, walking away from the door. “I just enforce them.” Harry sighs.

 

“Fine.” He says. “It’ll be cleaned up before he gets home.” She smiles.

  
“Good. Now try to stay out of trouble while I’m gone!”


	4. First Kisses

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry for the long wait! I'm sorry this chapter is short (and definitely not my best) but I really wanted one to get posted! Big things happen in this chapter though, so it's not all bad.

Harry closes the door and walks back over to the fort. He lifts up the blanket and crawls in. Louis shines the flashlight in his face and laughs. Harry giggles and shields his eyes.

“Lou said we have to clean up the fort.” He says sadly. Louis turns the flashlight off and sets it on the floor. The both crawl out of the fort. Harry stands up and walks over to his bed. He picks up the book that was keeping the blanket in place, and watches the fort collapse. Louis pulls the blanket off the floor and folds it up.He sets it on Harry’s bed. Harry runs around his room, picking up the pillows. He tosses them to Louis, who puts them down next to the blanket. 

“Cleaning up is always my least favorite part.” Harry says with a sigh. Louis nods in agreement.

“But at least it looked cool.” He says, walking over to the folding chair. He closes it and puts it back in Harry’s closet. “And maybe we can make another one some other time.” He adds. Harry smiles.

“So, you’re gonna come over to my house some more?” He asks. Louis nods.

“Yeah! I love it here! When my parents were looking for houses to buy, they looked at one across the street. I thought this house was way cooler, but my parents said that someone already lived there. That was the first time I saw you.” He says. Harry’s eyes light up.

“Why didn’t you come say hi?” He asks, slightly offended. Louis laughs and walks over to Harry’s bed. He sits down and pulls his legs up so that he can sit crisscross. Harry walks over and sits next to him.

“Because,” he says. “My parents didnt want me to make friends because they weren’t sure if we would move in there. And you were playing hopscotch with a blond boy, and I didn’t want to interrupt you guys.”

“That’s Niall!” Harry cries. Louis tilts his head in confusion. “Oh sorry.” He says awkwardly. “The blond boy I was playing with is named Niall. He lives down the street.” 

“Maybe we can all hang out sometime.” Louis suggests. Harry nods his head.

“Yeah that would be fun! We should invite my other friends, Liam and Zayn, too! They’re really nice. I think you’d really like them.” He says excitedly. He leaps off his bed and runs over to his dresser to grab a picture of them. He glances at the clock on the way over and skids to a stop. 

“Oh shoot!” He says. “I was supposed to take a shower!” He runs over to his closet and pulls out a white dress shirt and a black pair of pants. He looks at Louis and pauses. “You should probably take one too.” He says, grabbing another shirt and pair of pants from his closet and tossing them to Louis. “I’m going to hide you in my room, but if my uncle were to see you, it’d be better if you were clean and dressed nice. He might mistake you for the son of one of his dinner guests.” Louis nods, grabs the clothes and stands up. 

“Where is a shower I can use?” He asks. Harry walks to the door. He opens it and motions for Louis to follow him. He leads him to a room at the end of the hall. 

“You can use this shower.” He says, opening the door. “The water gets really hot though so make sure you dont turn it all the way up.” He adds, walking away. 

He runs back into his bedroom and grabs a pair of underwear and socks out of his dresser. He walks into the bathroom, and sets the clothes down on the counter. Quickly, he sheds his footie pajamas. He closes the door and locks it before stepping into the shower and turning the water on. It’s freezing. He quickly steps out of its line of fire and waits waits in the corner of the shower for the water to warm up. When it’s at a normal temperature, he steps back in. 

He tries to shower as fast as he can, knowing that the faster he showers, the faster he’ll be able to hang out with Louis again. Trying to be quick results in him dropping everything and almost slipping three times. He takes a deep breath and tries to calm down. The rest of his shower goes a lot smoother. After only 10 minutes, he steps out and quickly dresses himself. When he’s done, he unlocks the door and opens it.

He finds Louis sitting on his bed waiting for him. “Hey!” He says plopping himself down on the bed.

“You sing in the shower.” Louis says smiling. Harry’s face drops.

“You heard me sing?” He asks, becoming embarrassed. His cheeks start to redden.

“No need to be embarrassed, Harry.” Louis assures him. “You have a great voice.” 

Harry grins. “You think so?” He asks. Louis nods. Harry can feel butterflies fluttering around in his stomach. Without thinking, he leans forward and pecks Louis on the lips. 

His eyes widen. He immediately pulls back and pushes himself as far away from Louis as the bed will let him. His hands fly up to cover his face. “I am so sorry.” He says, trying to keep his voice steady. 

It quiet for a really long time. Harry wants to see how Louis reacted, but he cant bring himself to uncover his face. He throws his head down into his lap in embarrassment and frustration. 

“Harry?” He hears Louis whisper after what felt like an eternity of waiting.

“I’m sorry.” He mumbles. He can hear Louis chuckling. The bed squeaks as Louis crawls over to sit next to him. He weaves his fingers through Harry’s wet hair.  
“No need to be sorry.” He says. Harry shakes his head.

“No I should have asked first. I’m sorry” He says, his voice barely above a whisper. Louis laughs and continues to play with Harry’s hair. 

“Harry, I promise, I really dont care.” He insists. Harry lifts his head up from his lap, keeping his hands in front of his face.

“You don’t?” He asks. Louis reaches out and pulls Harry’s hands down so that he can see him. Harry lets him, but immediately turns to face the wall. 

“Hey Harry please look at me.” Louis sighs. Harry slowly turns his head so that he can face Louis. Louis puts his hands on Harry’s shoulder, looks him right in the eyes and says, “I promise, it’s ok.” He whispers. Harry nods and gives Louis a hug. Louis wraps his arms around Harry’s shoulders and rests his chin on the top of Harry’s head. 

They sit like that for a few minutes, before they hear the front door slam downstairs, indicating that someone is home.Harry pulls himself away from Louis and runs to the door. He opens it and dashes to the stairs just in time to see his uncle walk from the entrance area to the kitchen. He quickly spins around and runs back to his room. He closes the door quietly behind him. 

“What’s wrong?” Louis asks. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” He says, standing up and walking over to stand next to Harry. He puts his hand on Harry’s shoulder. Harry shakes it off. 

“You have to hide.” He whispers. Louis raises an eyebrow. Harry grabs him by the wrist and pulls him in the direction of his closet. “My uncle is home.” He says. “Everyday after work he comes up here and checks on me and I’m not allowed to have friends over when he’s not home, so you have to hide.” He says quickly before pushing Louis into the closet. “I’m really sorry. You’ll only have to stay in here for a minute.” He adds before closing the door.

Louis sits down on the floor of the closet and tries not to make a sound. Harry runs over to his bookcase, grabs a book, and sprints to his bed. He opens the book to a random page just as there is a knock on the door. He takes a deep breath and calls out, “Come in!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, please let me know what you think!


	5. Sleepovers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright so I was bored and in the writing mood so here's another chapter! Niall, Liam, and Zayn are introduced which is pretty sweet cause I love me some ot5.

The door opens and Harry’s uncle walks into the room. Harry sets down the book, looks over at him, and smiles. “You’re home early.” He says, trying to keep his voice steady. His uncle nods.

“Yeah. There’s going to be a dinner party here tonight and I wanted to make sure everything is in order.” He responds. Harry nods. His uncle looks around his room for a few moments. Harry can feel the palms of his hands getting sweaty. He tries to keep his eyes on anything other than the closet. His uncle mutters something under his breath, turns around and begins to walk out of his room. A sigh of relief escapes from Harry’s lips. “Did you say something?” His uncle asks, spinning around to face him again. Harry shakes his head.

“No sir.” He says. His uncle stares at him, trying to see if he’s up to anything. He gives up after a few seconds and walks back towards the door.

“Niall, Liam, and Zayn are coming over because their parents are guests at the dinner party. Since the party won’t end until very late, their parents have asked if they can sleep over.Make sure your room is clean.” He says before walking out of his room and closing the door.Harry’s mouth drops in shock. Not only are all his friends going to be over at his house all at one time, which is something that his uncle does not allow, but they are also going to be able to sleep over. He smiles and kicks his legs with excitement. 

Louis knocks on the closet door. “Can I come out now?” He whispers. Harry jumps up from his bed and runs over. He pulls the closet door open and lets Louis out. 

“Did you hear that?” He says, grabbing Louis’ arm. “My uncle is letting my friends sleep over! That’s never happened before! And you’ll get to meet them!” Louis smiles at Harry’s excitement. 

“That’s great, Harry!” Louis says. Harry grins and lets go of Louis’ arm.

“But my room has to be clean.” He says, walking over to the center of his room and picking up the flashlight that had been left on the floor. Louis picks up a few clothes that were on the ground and drops them into the hamper by the closet.

A few hours later, there is a knock on the door. The boys had finished cleaning an hour before, and were sat on Harry’s bed watching Full House. Harry gets up from his bed and walks over to the door. “Put the blanket over your head.” He whispers. Louis nods and picks up Harry’s comforter. He lays down and drapes it over his body.

“Who is it?” Harry calls through the door. There’s a laugh on the other side and Harry smiles, recognizing the voice. “Niall!” He cries, swinging the door open. The blond boys runs in and gives Harry a hug.

“Can you believe we’re actually allowed to sleep over?” He asks, jumping up and down. Harry shakes his head.  
“Nope!” He laughs. “Wait!” He says. Niall stops jumping. Harry reaches out and closes the door. “Can you keep a secret?” He asks. Niall nods his head.

“Sure!” He says. “Well, maybe not. I’ll probably tell Zayn and Liam.” He admits. 

“That’s ok.” Harry says. “I’m gonna tell them the secret too.”

Niall smiles. “Oh well then yeah you can tell me.” He says. 

Harry leans forward and whispers. “I have another friend that my uncle doesnt know about. He slept over last night and is going to sleep over again tonight.” Niall’s eyes widen. 

“Where is he?” He asks, looking around. Harry grins.

“Ok Louis, you can come out.” He says. The blanket on his bed moves and Louis emerges. He crawls off the bed and walks over to them. Niall smiles and extends his hand.

“Hi! I’m Niall!” He says. Louis reaches out and shakes his hand.

“I’m Louis.” He replies. Harry smiles.

“Louis is my best friend.” He says, wrapping his arm around Louis’ shoulders. Louis blushes and looks down. There is a knock at the door. Niall runs and opens it. Liam and Zayn walk in and are immediately pulled into a group hug with Niall. Liam giggles and pushes him away.

“We saw each other yesterday, Niall. There’s no need to hug.” 

Niall rolls his eyes and gives him another hug. “What can I say, Payno. I’m a huggy person.” Zayn laughs and the three of them migrate to the other end of the room, where Liam and Zayn set down their overnight bags. Zayn looks over at Harry and notices Louis for the first time. He leans over and whispers something to Liam. Liam shakes his head. 

Harry catches on to what’s going on and clears his throat. “Oh Liam, Zayn, this is Louis. Louis, this is Liam and Zayn.” Louis smiles and awkwardly waves. 

“Nice to meet you.” Zayn says, waving back. Harry tugs on Louis’ arm and pulls him over to his bed. They sit down on it, with their backs resting on the wall behind them. Liam, Zayn, and Niall sit next to them. Harry grabs the remote off his nightstand and looks for something to watch. 

They end up choosing Sharkboy and Lavagirl. Lou comes in about halfway through with trays of food. They jump up from the bed and grab the trays from her. She tells them that they have to eat on the floor, if they are going to eat in his room. After a few groans in protest, they all sit crosslegged in a half circle around the Tv.  
They watch movies for the rest of the night. In the middle of their Toy Story marathon, Niall’s parents walk in to give Niall his overnight bag, and to say goodbye. Liam’s parents come in a few minutes later, and Zayn’s a few minutes after that. 

The five of them get along great. Around midnight, Harry runs down the hall to get some more pillows and blankets. He climbs upstairs and tiptoes walking past his uncles room, as he probably isnt allowed to stay up this late. He grabs a handful of stuff and quickly sprints back to his room. 

It’s very cold in Harry’s room, so they end up sharing blankets. Zayn, Liam, and Niall under one set, and Louis and Harry under another. They continue to watch movies for a few more hours. When Harry’s eyes start to sting from staying open, Niall has an idea.

“Let’s go get ice cream.” He says, standing up from his spot on the floor.

“We have ice cream here.” Harry answers. “It’s on the side door in the freezer.” He mumbles. Niall looks over at Liam.

“He only likes it in cones.” Liam mutters. Niall gives him a content smile. Liam rolls his eyes, but eventually returns the smile. 

“Do you guys have cones?”Louis asks, raising his eyebrow. Harry shakes his head. 

“We don’t have any, Niall. Sorry” He says. Niall looks down in disappointment.

“Isn’t there an ice cream shop down the street from here?” Zayn asks from his spot next to Liam. “I thought I saw one on my way here.”

Harry and Louis glance at each other. They both knew that there was an ice cream shop only about a mile away from the house, but neither of them wanted to risk Harry getting in trouble if the other boys were to sneak out.

“Yeah, there is!” Niall says. He runs over to his stuff on the other side of the room and grabs his shoes. “Come on. We will be back way before Harry’s uncle gets up.” He calls, sliding the shoes onto his feet.

Liam puts his finger up to his mouth, telling Niall to be a little quieter. “I guess I’m in.” He whispers.

“Me too.” Zayn says. He stands up and walks over to where his overnight bag is. After pulling on his shoes, he reaches over Liam’s stuff and tosses his shoes over to him.

“That leaves you two.” Niall states, putting his hands on his hips.

Harry sinks down into his blanket and pulls it up to his chin. He was perfectly happy with just eating the ice cream they had in the freezer. “I’m fine.” He says. “But are you sure you guys want to get ice cream? It’s freezing out there.”

Niall rolls his eyes and mutters ‘No fun’ before looking down at Louis. “What about you, Louis? Wanna hang with the cool kids?” He asks.

Louis looks over at Harry, and then back at Niall. “I’ll stay with Harry.” He says. “But have fun with your cones.”

Harry smiles to himself and waves to Liam, Niall, and Zayn as they quietly walked out of his room. “Try not to make any noise.” He whispers.

“Those three are going to end up in jail someday.” He says after they close the door. Louis laughs. 

“Hey, how about we have some ice cream?” He asks. Harry smiles and jumps up from the floor. 

He sprints downstairs and into the kitchen and returns a minute later with an ice cream tub and two spoons. He plops down on his bed and Louis moves up to sit next to him. He tears open the lid of tub and gives one of the spoons to Louis. “Wanna watch a movie?” He asks before grabbing a spoonful of ice cream and stuffing it into his mouth.

“Sure. Let’s watch Up.”

Harry chuckles. “No, no, no. Let’s watch Lion King.”

Louis groans. “You got to pick Starkboy and Lavagirl. It’s my turn to pick.”

“Fine. You can pick.” Harry says. Louis is about to open his mouth, but he quickly stopped him. “You can choose anything other than Up.”

“That’s not fair!” He whines.

“Life isn’t fair.” Harry answers. He smiles to himself, happy that he got to use his uncles phrase on someone.

Louis grumbles to himself and moves the ice cream tub until it is just out of Harry’s reach. Harry glares at him, but that doesn't seem to bother Louis, he actually seems to find it amusing. 

“Fine, but you have to put it on.” Harry mumbles. Louis smiles, jumps up from the bed and walks over to the movie cabinet. Harry feels around in the bed for a couple seconds, before finally finding the remote. By then, Louis has found the movie. He pops it into the DVD player. He jogs back over, and jumps up onto the bed. Harry presses play.

“Thank you.” Louis smiles.

“Whatever.” Harry grumbles.

The other three come back about an hour later. They scramble into his room and shut the door behind them.  
“I’ve never been this cold before.” Niall says. They run over to their overnight bags and quickly pull out their pajamas. 

“It started raining on the way back.” Zayn says, shivering. They peel off their wet clothes and pull on their pajamas. 

“The ice cream was really good though.” Liam adds, before they all jump onto Harry’s bed. Louis picks up all the blankets from the floor and hands them to the boys. They quickly get under them and cuddle up next to each other. 

“I’m really tired.” Harry mumbles, half asleep. The others nod in agreement. They all say their goodnights and close their eyes. Harry rests his head against Louis’ shoulder and falls asleep. Louis smiles and leans his head against the wall. Within 5 minutes, he’s asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, please let me know what you think!


	6. Shots

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm on a roll. At this rate, the story will be finished by the end of the month. The song that Louis and Harry listen to in the car is [this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iol0B-clFFM) one. (You should listen to it, it's super cute!)

Lou wakes the boys up at 10 the next morning. She tells the that their parents will be coming to pick them up at 10:30. Harry rubs his eyes with the back of his hand. He looks down to see Niall, who had fallen asleep on his lap. He pushes his off and gets off his bed. Liam leaps from the bed to the carpet and crawls over to his stuff. Zayn groans and dramatically rolls off the bed. He lays on the floor, with his face in the carpet, for about a minute before army crawling over to Liam.

Harry goes into the bathroom and brushes his teeth. Sleeping on Louis’ shoulder had made his neck stiff, so he rolls head around and circles, trying to make it feel better. When the two minutes are up, he walks back into his room. Niall, who had slept through Lou trying to wake them up, is still asleep on his bed. Louis sleeps peacefully beside him. 

“Should we wake them up?” Liam whispers. Harry shakes his head. 

“Niall’s parents won’t care if he goes home in his pajamas so he can sleep for a few more minutes and Louis isnt getting picked up so he can sleep for as long as he wants.” He answers. Zayn tilts his head to the side.

“Why isnt he getting picked up?”He asks. 

“Yeah and how come we can’t tell anybody that he’s here?” Liam adds. Harry looks over at Louis to make sure he’s still asleep. When he’s almost positive, he sits down on the floor and motions for Zayn and Liam to come sit with him. They glance at each other, confused, before walking over and sitting down.

“Louis has no home.” Harry explains. “He’s going to live here with me for as long as he can.” Liam glances at Louis, then back at Harry.

“Your uncle is going to find out at some point.” He says. Harry nods.

“Yeah I know.” He says quietly. “But Louis was so cold and sick the night I found him. I want him to live here until my uncle tells him he can’t.” Zayn and Liam nod. Harry sighs and stands back up. He walks over to his bed and shakes Niall’s shoulder. Niall groans and bats his hand away.

“Leave me alone.” He says, shoving his face into the sheets. Harry rolls his eyes and shakes his shoulder some more.

“Come on! Your parents are going to be here soon.” He says. Niall groans in protest a few more times before sitting up. He glares at Harry, then jumps off the bed and walks sluggishly over to his overnight bag.

When the three boys have all their stuff together, it’s 10:30. Niall’s parents arrive first and almost have to carry him home, as he was still half asleep. Liam’s parents get there next. They thank Harry for letting Liam stay over, and then leave. Zayn leaves only a few minutes after Liam. Harry waves goodbye and closes the door. He spins around on his heels and starts walking up the stairs.

“Harry, are you still in there?” Lou yells from the kitchen. Harry stops midstep.

“Yeah!” He yells back. He hears her put something down on the kitchen counter. A few seconds later, she enters the room.

“I’m not sure if your uncle told you, but you’re getting your shots today.” She says. He crinkles his nose in disgust. 

“Do I have to?” He whines. Lou nods her head. 

“I’m afraid so.” She says. “Your appointment is at 11:15 so please go up to your room and get dressed. I want to be ready and out the door by 11.” Harry throws his head down dramatically and begins to walk sadly up the stairs.

“Can Louis come?” He asks, not bothering to stop or turn around. 

“I guess.” She says. Harry smiles. He runs the rest of the way up the stairs and into his room. 

“Hey Louis guess what!” He yells, forgetting that Louis had been sleeping. Louis sits up quickly and almost hits his head on the wall. His eyes fly open.

“What? What’s wrong?” He asks, slightly out of breath. Harry laughs and runs to sit next to him.

“Sorry, I didnt mean to startle you.” He giggles. “Lou told me that I have to get my shots today and she said that you can come with us.” He says, throwing his hands in the air. “Isnt that cool?” Louis smiles and nods his head.

“Yeah!” He says. “You’re the only person I’ve seen so excited about getting shots.” He yawns and climbs off the bed. “Can I borrow some pants from you?” He asks. “Mine are all ripped and dirty.” Harry nods his head. He skips over to his dresser and pulls out a pair of pants. 

“They might be a little long on you.” He says, tossing the pants to Louis. 

“I’ll roll them up, if they are.” Louis says, reaching out and catching the pants. Harry pulls out a pair of pants for himself. He slides out of his pajamas, and quickly pulls on the jeans. 

“This room is always freezing.” He complains. Louis chuckles and pulls the pants on. Harry’s right, they are long on him. He sits down and begins to roll them up. “Do you want to wear one of my sweaters?” Harry asks, walking over to his closest. 

“Sure, if you dont mind.” Louis says, smiling. Harry pulls out a grey sweater, and tosses it to Louis. Louis unbuttons the white shirt that Harry had given him to wear the night before, and pulls it off. He rolls it up into a ball and tosses it into the hamper. Harry picks up a sweatshirt on the floor and puts it on over his pajama shirt. 

“You’ll probably want socks and shoes.” He says, walking to his dresser. Louis nods and pulls the sweater over his head. He slips his arms into it and is sad to find that the sleeves go all the way over his hands. Harry giggles and throws him a pair of black socks. “You’re so much smaller than me.” He states. Louis frowns.

“I shouldn’t be.” He says. “I wish I wasnt.” He adds, pushing the sleeves up. Harry shrugs.

“I dont think it’s a bad thing.” He says. Louis blushes and looks down. He puts on the socks and tries to ignore the fact that his cheeks are getting redder with every second that goes by. Harry grins and takes out a pair of socks for himself.

When they are both ready, they run downstairs and find Lou waiting by the door. She ushers them outside and into the car. She checks to make sure they are both buckled in, before pulling out of the driveway. 

They sing along to the radio on the way there. Lou winces in pain as they scream along to every pop song that they stumble upon. In an attempt to make them stop, she switches the channel to an oldies station. Harry crosses his arms.

“Why do you gotta take away all the fun?” He asks, playfully. Lou smirks.

“I dont know.” She responds. “I guess I’m just a terrible person.” Harry laughs and uncrosses his arms. The car is quiet until the song changes and a new one comes on. Harry’s ears perk up at the familiar tune. 

“Hey!” He shouts. “I know this song! My mom used to sing it to me when I was little.” He smiles and taps his hands along to the beat. Louis listens for a couple more seconds. 

“My mom sang me this too!” He says, excitedly. Harry beams and claps his hands.

“You hear that, Lou?” He asks, leaning forward so that Lou can see him. “Louis knows the song too!” He says. Lou sighs.

“Does that mean you two are gonna sing it?” She asks, pretending to be annoyed. Harry nods his head.

“You betcha. Right when it gets to the chorus, because that’s the only part I remember.” He admits. Lou chuckles and turns the radio up. There’s two more lines in the verse. When the chorus comes on, Harry and Louis hold nothing back.

_Why do you build me up, buttercup baby Just to let me down and mess me around. And worst of all, you never call baby when you say you will, though I love you still._

__“I need you. I need you.” Harry and Louis giggle while pointing at each other._ _

_____More than anyone darlin. You know that I have from the start. So build me up, buttercup dont break my heart. ___

____Lou rolls her eyes as they break out into a fit of giggles. She pulls into the parking lot of the doctors offices and drives into a parking spaces. She turns off the car, and the radio shuts off._ _ _ _

____“Hey!” Harry whines. “We were still singing.” He says in between giggles._ _ _ _

____“You dont want to miss your doctors appointment, do you?” She asks, getting out of the car. Harry sighs and unbuckles his seatbelt. Louis does the same. They hop out of the car and run to meet up with Lou, who was walking towards the building without them._ _ _ _

____As they walk into the office, panic sets in. Harry tugs at Lou’s sleeve nervously. “Are they gonna hurt?” He asks. Lou shakes her head._ _ _ _

____“Not too much.” She promises. “It’s just a little pinch. But your arms may be sore afterward.” Harry nods, but he doesn’t believe her._ _ _ _

____“Don’t be scared, Harry.” Louis says, walking up stand next to him. “Shots keep you from getting sick, and everybody gets them, so they can’t be that bad.”_ _ _ _

____Lou goes up to the front desk. She talks to the lady at the counter for a few moments, before walking back over to them. “She said they’ll call you when they’re ready.” She tells Harry. He looks down and mumbles ‘Ok’._ _ _ _

____“Hey, Harry.” Louis says, trying to make Harry feel better. “There’s some toys and books over here.” He says, walking over to the corner of the office where there is a bin of toys and a small bookshelf. Harry walks over and sits down on the floor. Louis scans the bookshelf and pulls out The Giving Tree. “This was my favorite book when I was little.” He says. Harry looks at it and runs his pointer finger over the title._ _ _ _

____“Will you read it to me?” He asks, quietly. Louis nods and sits down next to him. He opens the book to the first page._ _ _ _

____“Once there was a tree,” he began. “And she loved a little boy.” Harry curls up next to him and listens as Louis reads. When the book is finished. A nurse walks into the office and calls out Harry’s name. He lets out a shaky breath and stands up._ _ _ _

____“Can you come with me?” He asks. Louis nods and stands up. They follow the lady into a room in the back._ _ _ _

____“Your doctor will be with you in a moment.” She says. “Please take a seat on the bed, your friend can sit in the chair.” She adds, pointing to a green chair next to the bed. Harry nods and jumps up onto the bed. The tissue paper that had been placed on top of it crinkles under his weight._ _ _ _

____The nurse smiles and leaves. Louis sits down on the green spinning chair and starts rolling around the room. He rolls over to a jar full of popsicle sticks. He lifts the top off and grabs one. Harry watches him as he places the lid back on the jar and rolls back over._ _ _ _

____“Open your mouth.” He says. Harry laughs._ _ _ _

____“No! You’re gonna do something weird.” He says, putting a hand over his mouth. Louis shakes his head._ _ _ _

____“No, I just want to put it on your tongue like doctors do in all the movies.” He insists. Harry rolls his eyes and moves his hand. He opens his mouth and sticks out his tongue. Louis places the popsicle stick on his tongue and looks inside his mouth._ _ _ _

____“It tastes like wood.” Harry says._ _ _ _

____“Well it is made of wood, so that’s what I’d expect it to taste like.” Louis answers. He lifts Harry’s chin up to that he can see into his mouth easier. “The little thingy that hangs in the back of your mouth looks weird.” He says, taking the popsicle stick off Harry’s tongue. “I think it’s smallpox.”_ _ _ _

____“I don’t have smallpox!” Harry shrieks. Louis bursts out laughing._ _ _ _

____“Well, I sure hope you dont.” A voice says from behind them. They turn to see the doctor walking into the room. He closes the door with one hand, and sets a tray full of shots down on the counter with the other. Harry’s eyes widen._ _ _ _

____“Are all those going into my arm?” He asks, pointing to the shots. The doctor nods._ _ _ _

____“It’s really not that bad, I promise.” He says. He takes Harry’s left arm and wipes a spot down with a small wet wipe. Then, he grabs one of the needles from the tray. Harry reaches out and grabs Louis’ hand. The doctor puts the needle in Harry’s arm and Harry squeezes Louis’ hand so hard that Louis isn’t sure which one of them is in more pain._ _ _ _

____Several shots later, Harry and Louis are allowed to go back into the waiting room. Lou smiles when she sees them walk through the doors, and then frowns when she sees Harry’s eyes puffy and red. She gives him a hug and walks them out to the car._ _ _ _

____The car ride home is silent. When they pull into the driveway, Lou turns around and says, “Your uncle told me that he won’t be home until midnight.” Harry gives her a faint smile, before climbing out of the car. He grabs Louis by the wrist and pulls him up to his room._ _ _ _

____His arms are so sore, that they really can’t do anything besides talk and watch movies. But they didn’t really care. They weren’t going to object to sitting on Harry’s bed with their legs tangled together, watching their favorite films._ _ _ _

____Every couple minutes, Louis spaces out and starts drawing shapes on Harry’s arms with his fingers, making sure they never went near his shots._ _ _ _

____The only time they have to move, is about every two hours, when the movie ends. When that happens, Louis gets up from the bed, and switches it with another. Harry whines in protest until Louis crawls back onto the bed, and settles down into his arms._ _ _ _

____After the 4th movie, Louis asks Harry how he is feeling. He can see in his eyes, that he is clearly in pain, but if he didn’t ask, Harry would have kept quiet about it. “My arms are just really sore. They hurt a lot when I move them.” He smiles. “Don’t worry about me, Louis. Put another movie on.”_ _ _ _

____Louis bites his lip. “I have an idea.” Harry tilts his head in confusion.”When I was little and I got hurt, my mom used to kiss me and it would feel better.” He said._ _ _ _

____Harry knits his eyebrows together. “Are you saying that I should ask Lou or something to kiss my arms?”_ _ _ _

____Louis blushes and looks down. “Or I could? If you’d prefer that?” Harry’s face relaxes and he begins to nod his head. He moves closer and starts to roll up his sleeves. “How many do you have on each arm?” Louis asks._ _ _ _

____“Three on this one, two on the other.” He answers, moving his right arm closer to Louis. Louis closes his eyes, takes in a deep breath, and kisses his arm. It was kind of awkward at first, and when he was done with the first shot, his lips hover over his skin, as if debating going and kissing that one again. Then he realizes that he has four others that need his attention. His lips works their way up his arm, leaving a trail of kisses as they went, and stop when they feel the outline of a band aid. Harry whimpers as that area on his arm suddenly has more pressure applied to it._ _ _ _

____“You ok Harry?” Louis asks, looking up at him. He nods. Louis dips his head back down and kisses the last one on his right arm. He shiftes around on the bed until Harry’s left arm is facing him._ _ _ _

____He kisses the other two, his lips linger on the last one, before finally pulling away. Harry smiles and moves over on the bed, so that Louis can sit next to him again. “Thank you,” he whispers._ _ _ _

____They don’t talk for a while after that. They switch from watching movies, to watching whatever is on Disney Channel at 7 at night. Halfway through an episode of Kim Possible, Harry drapes his legs over Louis’, and pulls himself up onto his lap. He wraps his arms around Louis’ neck, and rests his head on Louis’ chest. Louis watches as his eyes flutter shut and within 5 minutes, Harry is fast asleep._ _ _ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, please let me know what you think! :)


	7. 20 Questions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I stayed home sick today so I thought I'd get another chapter out because I have a busy weekend and finals next week so this may be the last one for a week or so. Enjoy!

Harry’s uncle doesn’t bother checking on Harry that night, which is good, because shortly after Harry fell asleep, Louis did too. They slept all through the rest of the day and until 3 o’clock in the morning. Harry wakes up first. He rubs his eyes and rolls off the bed. He lands on his arm and winces in pain, remembering that he had his shots done the day before. 

He gets up and walks to his closet. He pulls out the first pair of pajamas he can find and quickly puts them on. After tossing his clothes in the hamper, he crawls back in bed. The bed shifts under his weight, and wakes Louis up. He yawns.

“Hey.” He whispers. “What time is it?” Harry reaches out to his bedside table and turns his alarm clock around. The green glowing lights show the numbers 3:15. 

“I’m not really tired.” He says. “But it’s too early to really do anything.” He adds, pulling his comforter over his body. Louis nods. 

“We could play a game.” Louis suggests. 

“What kind of game.” Harry asks. Louis thinks for a little bit.

“I’ve got it!” He says, throwing his hands in the air. “Let’s play 20 questions.”

“How do you play?” Harry asks, scooting closer to Louis.

“Well, we each ask each other questions until we get to 20, and we have to answer no matter what the question is.” Louis says. Harry nods his head. 

“Yeah, that sounds like fun! You go first.”

“Umm.” Louis says. He closes his eyes and thinks. Harry leans forward, anxious for a question. “What do your favorite pair of socks look like?” Louis asks after a few seconds. Harry starts giggling. 

“That’s a funny question.” He says. Louis shrugs. 

“They’ll get better as the game goes on.” He says. Harry smiles. He glances over at his sock drawer. He didnt really have a favorite pair of socks, all of them were fine. None were below average but none were really above either. 

“I guess my favorite pair is purple with black stripes.” He says, thinking of a pair that Lou had gotten him last Christmas. 

“Why are those your favorite?” Louis asks. Harry shakes his head.

“No, you already asked me something, now it’s my turn to ask you a question.” Harry says, completely serious. Louis laughs.

“Alright, alright. Go ahead.”

“Who is your favorite superhero?” Harry asks. It wasn’t the best question, but he didn’t want to spend an hour thinking of a good one.

“Spiderman.” Louis says after almost no time at all. “That’s an easy one. I’ve always loved Spiderman.” Harry smiles and pulls the blanket up to his chin. Louis shifts over so that he can sit under the blanket too. “What’s the funniest joke you’ve ever heard?” He asks. Harry’s face lights up.

“Oh I know lots of funny jokes!” He says, giggling. Louis rolls his eyes.

“Ok but what’s the funniest one?” He asks. Harry bites his lip and thinks. After a minute, he smiles.

“Ok, I’ve got it!” He says excitedly. “So there’s two chips right, and they’re friends. And one day, they’re playing on the playground. The first chips says to the second chip, ‘I think you’re being unfair’. The second chip says,’Come on now…’” He stops telling the joke and giggles for a few seconds. Louis cracks a smile. Harry coughs and continues telling the joke. “Ok so the second chip says, ‘Come on now, lets taco bout it.’” He pauses and lets a few more giggles slip out. “And the first chip says, ‘No! I’m… No!’” He holds his stomach in an attempt to keep himself from laughing. “No! I’m nacho friend!” He finally gets out after many failed attempts. He bursts into an uncontrollable fit of laughter. Louis sits next to him, his face emotionless. 

“I’m sorry Harry but that might just be the worst joke I’ve ever heard.” He says. Harry swats at his arm and continues to laugh. After a few minutes, he calms down.

“What’s your favorite color?” He asks. 

“Green.” Louis says, “What’s your favorite song?” Harry thinks for a few moments before answering. 

“You’re Still the One.” He says. “Favorite movie?”

“Grease.” Louis answers. “If you were stuck on an island with me, Niall, Liam, and Zayn, who would you kill for food?” He asks. Harry knits his eyebrows together.

“That’s an unfair question.” He says. Louis shrugs his shoulders.

“You still have to answer it.” 

Harry thinks about the question for more than 10 minutes. It gets to the point where Louis doesn’t care anymore whether he answers or not, he just wants to move on. When he’s about to let Harry pass, Harry says, “Niall.” Louis raises his eyebrow. “But I want to explain why.” Harry adds.

“Go ahead.”

“I chose Niall because I think he’d understand. He probably would be mad, but I think the other’s would be more mad.” Harry says.

“Well, he’s dead, so I don’t really think he’ll have an opinion on the whole thing.” Louis points out.

“Yeah, I thought of that.” Harry admits. “But there’s going to be a point when I’m killing him that he’s going to be aware of what’s going on.” He says. “Plus, Zayn and Liam both eat really healthy so I think Niall would probably taste better.”

“Next time I see Niall, I’ll make sure to tell him that.” Louis says.

“What’s your favorite type of ice cream?” Harry asks, changing the subject. Louis chuckles.

“You can’t go wrong with cookie dough.” He says. Harry smiles.

“That’s my favorite too!” He cries. Louis throws his hand over Harry’s mouth. The both sit perfectly still, trying to figure out if Harry woke his uncle up or not. “I think we’re ok.” Harry mumbles into Louis hand. Louis nods and pulls it away.

“Have you ever seen a R rated movie?” He asks. Harry shakes his head.

“Nope!” He says. “What question are we at?” He asks.

“This is the 10th one.” Louis answers. “Favorite ride at an amusement park?” Harry frowns.

“Hey.” He says. “I never got to ask my question.” 

Louis nods his head. “Yes you did.” He says. “You asked what number we were on.” 

“That shouldn’t count.” Harry says, laughing. Louis puts his hands up in defense. 

“But it does, sorry. I dont make the rules.” He says. Harry rolls eyes and mumbles ‘I dont make the rules’ in his best Louis impression. 

“The teacups.” He says. “My favorite ride at an amusement park is the teacups.” Had it been anyone else, Louis probably would have made fun of them, but since it’s Harry, he just smiles. “Which character are you when you play Mario?” Harry asks.

“Luigi.” Louis answers. “Get it? Cause my name is Louis?” He giggles to himself. “Ok umm, dogs or cats?” 

“Cats!” Harrys says. “There used to be a stray cat that lived on the street and I used to give it treats and I named it Robert.”

“What happened to it?” Louis asks. Harry looks down.

“I’m not sure.” He says. “It just stopped coming into the backyard one day.” He traces the shapes on his sheets for a second before looking back up. “How many kids do you want when you grow up?” He asks.

“Three.” Louis says immediately. “Or maybe two. I’m not sure.” He thinks about it for another second and then nods, satisfied with his answer. “What do you want to be when you grow up?”

“A singer.” Harry says, blushing. “But no one has heard me sing other than you.” Louis smiles.

“Aw I feel special.” He says. Harry smiles and mumbles something, but it’s too quiet for Louis to hear. However, he thinks he heard ‘You should’. 

“Winter or Summer?” Harry asks. Louis is surprised at the simpleness of the question.

“Summer… I guess. Fall is my favorite.” He says. “Is your hair naturally this curly?” He asks, reaching out and tugging on one of Harry’s curls. Harry laughs.

“Yep!” He says. Louis smiles and waits for his next question. Harry sits quietly. After a few minutes, he asks, “What’s it like to be homeless?” 

Louis bites down on the inside of his lip. It wasn’t that hard of a question, but he hadn’t really had the chance to really think about what it was like until now. “Different.” He says. “It’s really different. And hard. When I was little, I always thought it looked pretty easy. You didnt have to go to school and you go to sleep outside all the time. Like a never ending camping trip. But it’s not. Your life gets flipped upside down, to the point where you feel like nothing but lost.” 

Harry sits with his chin resting in his hands. He waits for Louis to be done talking, before he reaches up and gives him a hug. “I wish you could just live here.” He whispers. “Without having to worry about being caught.” He adds, pulling away. 

They both sit still and quiet for a little while. Harry watches as the glowing green numbers on his alarm clock change from 3:51 to 3:52. Louis plays with a loose thread in Harry’s sweater. “We still have two more questions left.” He says quietly. Harry nods and shifts his body around so that he can face him. “What happened to your parents?” Louis asks. Harry pulls his legs up to his chest and hugs them.

“They died in a car accident.” He whispers. “I’m not supposed to know, but I heard my uncle talking about it on the phone one night.” Louis wraps his arm around Harry’s shoulders. Harry lets go of his legs and curls up next to him. Louis moves them farther back on the bed so that they can lean against the wall. “One more question left.” Harry whispers. Louis looks down at him and waits for him to continue. “Can I kiss you again?” Harry asks, looking up at him.

Louis nods and drops his head down so that it’s at the same level as Harry’s. Harry presses their foreheads together for a few seconds first, their lips just centimeters apart. When he’s absolutely sure that Louis does want to be kissed, he closes the space between them.

Their first kissed was quick and stressful. This one isnt. Neither of them know what they’re doing, but that doesn’t really matter. It’s perfect. So perfect, that Harry doesn’t want to pull away. However, kisses can’t last forever, and after only a couple of seconds, they pull apart. Louis smiles and lays down. Harry lays down next to him.

“That was a fun game.” Harry whispers. Louis chuckles. He reaches out and grabs Harry’s hand, lacing their fingers together.  
“Yeah well maybe we can play it again sometime.” He says. “But right now, I’m really tired, I think I’m going to go back to sleep.” He closes his eyes slowly. 

“Yeah, me too.” Harry says a couple seconds later.

Louis falls asleep within the next 10 minutes. Harry lays on his back and looks up at the ceiling. He tries to get himself to calm down, and go to sleep. An hour passes before he can finally close his eyes. His heart continues to beat a million times a second, and a huge grin is still plastered on his face, but Harry knows that as long as his hand is tied up with Louis’ neither of those things are going to go away anytime soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, please let me know what you think! And thanks for reading!


	8. Presents

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright so you know how the fic summary is "inspired by this picture" , well the pictures concept is in this chapter. There will probably be lots of updates within the next two weeks because I have no school!

When Harry wakes up the next morning, Louis is gone.

He pushes his blanket off of his legs and hops out of bed. He runs to his closet and looks inside. Maybe his uncle had come in earlier and Louis was hiding from him. Louis doesnt seem to be in the closet. Harry even moves his clothes around just to make sure Louis isnt hiding behind them. 

He steps out of his closet and walks to the bathroom. Louis isnt in there either. “Louis?” Harry calls out. There’s no answer. 

Frustrated and confused, Harry walks out of his bedroom. He slowly makes his way down the stairs, and into the kitchen. Lou is still cleaning up from the party from a few nights before. She smiles when she sees him.

“Good morning, Harry! How are your arms feeling today?” She asks. Harry looks down at his arms and sees the bandaids from the shots. He completely forgot about them. 

“They’re fine.” He says, his voice quiet. His eyes scan the kitchen. No sign of Louis. He looks down at the ground. Lou stops cleaning and walks over to him. She squats down so that she is the same height as him.

“Harry, what’s wrong?” She asks. Harry can feel tears forming in the corners of his eyes. Lou puts her hand on his shoulder, and he quickly shakes it off. 

“Louis is gone.” He whispers. Lou nods and pulls him into a hug. He wraps his arms around her and buries his face into her shoulder. She doesn’t let go until she can feel him pulling away. When he does, she can see a few tears rolling down his cheeks. “Is it cause I asked to kiss him?” He asks, his voice cracking. “Did that scare him off or something?” More tears escape from his eyes. He quickly wipes them away with the back of his pajama sleeve. 

Lou fully sits down on the ground and pulls Harry onto her lap. It’s a bit childish, but Harry doesn’t really care. “I’m sure that’s not the reason.” She says, running her fingers through his hair. He closes his eyes, trying to stop himself from crying even more.

“Yes it is.” He whispers. “Why else would he leave without telling me.”

“Maybe he went for a walk.” Lou suggests. Harry looks up at her.

“You think?” He asks. Lou nods.

“Sure. Sometimes I like to take early morning walks. And it’s a nice day today, so it’s definitely a possibility. I’m sure he’ll be back any minute.” She says. Harry smiles. He wipes the last of his tears away and leans up to give Lou a kiss on the cheek.

“Thanks Lou.” He says, climbing off her lap.

“Wait.” She says, stopping him. He sits back down. “What’s this about you kissing Louis?” She asks. Harry’s eyes widen. He had told that to her in a moment of weakness, and now he’s wishing he hadn’t.

“Nothing.” He lies. She barks out a single ‘ha’ and shakes her head.

“Don’t lie to me Harry.” She says. “Come on now, you know my rule.” Harry looks down and nods, sadly. 

“Yeah, I know.” He mumbles.

“What’s my rule?” She asks. Harry rolls his eyes and repeats the phrase he has to say every time him and Cher play wedding.

“No dating till I’m 30.” He says. Lou smiles. 

“Good, now go play.” She says, pulling him off of her lap. They both stand up. Lou returns to cleaning and Harry starts to exist the kitchen, when she stops him again. “Niall’s parents called and invited you to come over today. They’re expecting you over in about an hour.” She says. Harry smiles and continues to leave the kitchen. He opens the door and finds him uncle standing on the other side of it.

“Oh, good morning!” He says, walks past him. “You’re going into work late today?” He asks, walking backwards towards the stairs, so that he can still look at him. His uncle nods.

“Yeah, I got home pretty late last night so I figured I deserved a morning off.” He says. Harry nods in agreement. Thinking the conversation is over, he turns around and begins to climb up the stairs. “Harry.” His uncle calls. Harry stops midstep and quickly turns back around.

“Yes sir.” He says. 

“Letting your friends sleepover was a one time thing.” He says. “I don’t want to find another one sleeping in your room again.” Harry opens his mouth to say ok, but then realizes what happened. He quickly clamps it shut and tries to keep his eyes from bulging out of their sockets. “Especially ones that I’ve never met before.” He uncle adds. He turns around, and disappears into the kitchen.

Harry stands frozen on the stairs. His uncle found Louis. His uncle found Louis and kicked him out.

Without thinking, Harry runs down the stairs and out the front door. He sprints across the yard and ignores the fact that the grass is wet and he isn’t wearing any shoes. When he gets to the side of the house, he throws open the sidedoor. “Louis?” He whispers. “Louis are you out here?” There’s no answer. 

He spends the next half hour checking all around the outside of the house. He checks every place multiple times, just incase he missed him the first time. He walks back into the house when he hears Lou calling for him. 

“Time to get ready to go to Niall’s.” She says, trying to sound happy. Harry can tell that she heard what his uncle had told him. He nods and climbs up the stairs. 

He doesnt bother changing out of his pajamas, he just throws on clothes over them. He meets Lou at the bottom of the stairs about 10 minutes later and they walk together to Niall’s house. Lou chats with Niall’s parents for a few minutes before giving Harry a hug and walking back to the house. Niall’s parents offer him something to drink, and he politely declines. 

“Ok.” His mom says. “Niall should be in his room. Have fun!” She smiles. Harry smiles back and walks to Niall’s room. He knocks on the door. Niall shouts ‘come in’ a few seconds later. Harry opens the door and finds Niall sitting on his bed playing a video game. Harry steps into his room and closes the door behind him. 

“Whatcu playin?” He asks, walking over and sitting next to him. 

“Peggle.” Niall responds. “It’s the greatest game ever.” Harry watches as Niall lines up his shot. When he’s done, he mashes the button and the ball shoots out. It hits about 3 pegs before falling. Niall throws his controller down in frustration. “I suck at this game.” He mutters. He picks the controller up and pauses the game. “How are you?” He asks, setting it down on his nightstand and turning so that he can face Harry. 

“My uncle threw Louis out.” Harry says. Niall nods. He climbs off his bed and picks up another controller. He tosses it to Harry and picks his up off the nightstand. 

“Peggle will take your mind off things.” He says. He unpauses the game and goes to the menu screen. He clicks on multiplayer and Harry chooses a character. 

Two hours and 30 games of Peggle later, Lou comes to pick Harry up. He hugs Niall and says goodbye.

“I hope you are able to see Louis again.” Niall says. “My best friend, Josh, moved away when I was little. It really sucks not being able to see your best friend everyday.” Harry smiles and gives Niall another hug.

A week goes by.

Harry checks outside for Louis every morning when he gets up, right after he gets home from school, and right before he falls asleep. Every morning he asks Lou if she thinks it’s going to rain that night. On the days that she says yes, Harry leaves an umbrella and a pair of warm clothes under the stoop in the front of the house, just in case Louis needs them. 

Another week goes by.

Christmas break begins. A few days into it, Niall invites Harry, Liam, and Zayn over to exchange Christmas gifts. Liam gets Harry a bunch of bandanas. Zayn gets Harry a new pair of shoes. Niall gets him Peggle. Harry laughs and rolls his eyes and pulls them all into a hug. When he gets home, he brushes his teeth and crawls into bed. He closes his eyes and begins to fall asleep.

About 10 minutes later, something hits his window, and wake him up. He pulls his blanket up to his chin, slightly freaked out, and waits for a few seconds. Something hits his window again. He takes in a deep breath and tries to muster up enough courage to go see what’s at his window.  
After his window is hit again, he gets out of bed and tiptoes over. He pulls the curtain away and lifts the window up. Sitting on the ledge of the house next door, is Louis. 

“Louis!” Harry cries. Louis laughs and puts his finger up to his lips, telling Harry to be a little quieter. Harry smiles and pushes the window open even more. He crawls out onto the ledge beneath his window. “How’d you get up there?” He asks.

“Nobody lives in this house.” Louis says. “I saw these two ledges the day you found me. I wanted to talk to you tonight but I didnt know how so since nobody lives in this house, I thought I could come to this ledge and knock on your window. And I was right.” He says.

“You’re always right.” Harry says. “We’ve had that conversation.” Louis giggles. “I missed you.” Harry whispers. Louis nods. 

“Yeah, I missed you too.” He says. “I got you a Christmas present.” Harry’s face lights up. 

“Did you really?” He says, excitedly. “You didnt have to.” He adds as Louis tosses something over at him. It lands in his lap. He looks down and sees a balled up tie. He gives Louis a questioning look. 

“It’s for when you want to play pretend wedding, so you don’t have to steal your uncles’” He says.

“How did you get this?” Harry asks. Louis shrugs.

“A lady gave me a dollar and I found a couple of coins on the street. I got it at the dollar store. It really isnt much.” He says. Harry shakes his head. 

“No, it’s great! Thank you so much!” He says. Louis blushes, but it’s too dark for Harry to see. “I got you something too.” Harry says a few seconds later. “But it’s not finished yet. Me and the boys are still working on it.” He adds. Louis knits his eyebrows together in confused. 

“What is it?” He asks. Harry grins. 

“You’re gonna have to wait and see.” He says. “I was really worried you wouldn’t come back, and I never could give it to you.” 

“I was really scared to come back.” He admits. “But I wanted to spend today with you, and I wanted to give you your present.” Harry tilts his head to the side.

“Why today?” He asks. Louis smiles and looks down. 

“It’s my birthday today.” He whispers. Harry leans forward in surprise and almost falls off the ledge.

“Well I dont want you to sleep out in the cold on your birthday.” He says. “Come inside.” Louis laughs. 

“What about your uncle?” He asks. 

“He’s at a Christmas party and said that he’s going to spend the night at the hotel that it’s at.” He states. “It’s just me and Lou here.” 

Louis smiles and hops the short distance between the two ledges. Harry’s heart skips a beat and he has to cover his eyes with his hands, not wanting to see if Louis makes it or not. A second later, he feels two arms wrap around him. He uncovers his eyes and lets himself be hugged by Louis. 

“I really did miss you.” Louis whispers into his ear. Harry blushes. 

They both climb inside. Harry’s almost too tired to stand. He pulls Louis over to his bed and throws himself onto it. Louis laughs and pulls the covers over him, and then crawls in. Harry cuddles up next to him. “Happy birthday.” He whispers. “I’ll make you a cake in the morning.” 

“I don’t need a cake.” Louis giggles. Harry shakes his head.

“It’s your birthday you need cake.” He says.

“But it won’t be my birthday tomorrow.” Louis argues. 

“Doesn’t matter.” Harry mumbles, falling asleep.

They keep arguing until Harry is too tired to speak. Louis sighs and accepts the fact that he will mostly likely be getting cake the next morning, no matter how much he argues. 

“Goodnight.” He whispers, pressing a kiss on Harry’s forehead. Harry mumbles back an incoherent goodnight. Louis smiles to himself, pulls the blanket up to his nose, and falls asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! And as always, let me know what you think! :)


	9. Christmas

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aw this is a happy chapter! I couldn't stop smiling while writing it. The next chapter will probably be out either next week or the week after. My brother and I got Disneyland tickets as an early Christmas present so I won't get anytime to write while we're there. Thank you for reading and I hope you guys all have a merry Christmas!

Harry wakes Louis up the next morning by shoving his face into cake. Louis glares at him and tries to look mad, but when Harry almost falls off his bed from laughing so hard, its hard for Louis to remain angry. He gets up off Harry’s bed and walks sleepishly into the bathroom. He uses one of the towels that are on the towel rack to wash the frosting off his face. He returns to Harry’s room a few minutes later.

“That wasn’t funny.” He says. Harry grins.

“It was really funny.” He says between giggles. Louis shakes his head.

“I thought it was quite rude.” He says, trying to keep himself from smiling.

“Yeah but who cares what you think?” Harry teases. Louis’ jaw drops.

“Hey!” He cries. “You are being unnecessarily mean this morning!” Harry smiles and runs across the room to give Louis a hug. 

“I’m sorry.” He mumbles into Louis’ shoulder. “Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas.” Louis returns. Harry squeezes a little bit harder for a second before pulling away. He skips back over to his bed and plops down on it. He pats the spot next to him, telling Louis to sit down.

“Would you like your Christmas present now or later?” He asks as Louis sits down. Louis thinks about it for a few seconds before answering.

“Later.” He decides.

Harry laughs and pulls his feet up onto the bed. “I was planning on giving it to you now no matter what your answer was.” He admits. “I only asked because I wanted to be polite.” Louis smiles and rolls his eyes. 

“At least you’re honest.” He says. Harry grins at him and reaches his hand out. He grabs Louis’ wrist and hops off the bed, pulling Louis with him. They run out of the bedroom and down the stairs. Harry pulls Louis past the living, the game room, and past an office. They keep running until they get to the door that leads to the backyard. Harry opens it, pulls Louis outside, and quickly shuts the door behind them. They sprint across the grass and finally stop when they get to a shed. Harry smiles and lets go of Louis’ wrist. 

“Here it is!” He says, out of breath. Louis looks up at the shed, then back at Harry, confused. 

“A shed?” He asks. Harry nods. 

“Yep. And this.” He says, sticking his hand in his pocket. He pulls out a few seconds later with something tucked inside. “Close your eyes and hold out your hands.” He instructs. Louis does what he is told and shuts his eyes. He brings his hands together and holds them out in front of him. Harry hovers his closed hand above them and unclenches his fist. A key falls into Louis’ hands. Louis opens his eyes and looks down at the key.   
“A key?” He asks, even more confused. Harry chuckles.

“Open the door.” He says, motioning to the shed door in front of them. Louis puts the key in the lock and turns it. The lock pops open. He pulls the door open and steps inside. Harry follows him in and turns on a light.

The room lights up. There’s a bed in the corner, with blue sheets that Harry had stolen from the guest room and one of Harry’s pillows. In the other corner, there’s a table with a vase of flowers that Harry had picked from the garden that morning, sitting on top of it. In the third corner, is a dresser filled with all the clothes that were too small for Harry.

Louis looks around in amazement. “You’re giving me a little house?” He asks. Harry blushes and looks down at his feet. 

“I didn’t want you to have to live outside anymore.” He says. “ I was gonna paint it with the boys because the paint is chipping but I wanted to give it to you as soon as possible. We can still paint it if you want.” Louis turns and wraps his arms around Harry’s shoulders. He pecks him on the tip of his nose and then pulls him into a hug.

“Thank you so much.” He whispers into his shoulder. “And I don’t care about chipping paint.” He adds. Harry laughs. 

“We’re still gonna paint it because it bothers me.” He says. Louis shakes his head.

“Nope. I like it like this.” He says. Harry rolls his eyes and steps out of the hug. He walks over to the bed and sits down on the end of it. He leans down and reaches under it. A few seconds later, he pulls out a box wrapped with blue wrapping paper. 

“There’s one more thing.” Harry says. “I wanted to give you something you could actually open.” Louis walks over and sits down next to him.

“You spoil me.” He says, taking the box from Harry. He pulls the paper off and uses his finger nail to break the tape that was keeping the box closed. Inside, is a picture frame with a picture of the two of them inside. They’re sitting on the floor, reading The Giving Tree. “When was this taken?” He asks.

“When we were at the doctors office.” Harry answers. “Lou took it with her phone when we weren’t paying attention. She printed it out and took me to the store to buy a frame.” He says. “I thought you could hang it on the wall.” 

Louis looks over at the wall. There’s a nail sticking slightly out of the wall, right next to the head of his bed. He smiles and leans over, hanging the frame on the nail. “It looks great!” He says, leaning back and admiring it. “I love it. Thank you.” Harry blushes. They sit in a comfortable silence for a couple of minutes before Louis asks. “Won’t your uncle find out that I live in here?” Harry shakes his head.

“He never comes out here.” He says. “All there was in the shed before were the extra bed, the table, and a bunch of stuff that I used as a baby, so there’s nothing out here that he would have ever needed. And the few times that I’ve seen where I’ve seen him ask for something in here, he asked Lou to get it for him.” 

“Does she know I’m living out here?” Louis asks.

“Yeah.” Harry says, nodding his head. “She argued with me about it at first but she gave up.” He laughs. Louis scoots over on the bed so that he is sitting so close to Harry, there legs are touching. He leans his head on Harry’s shoulder and loops their arms together.

“You’re the best friend in the whole world.” He whispers. Harry shrugs.

“Eh I’m ok.” He says. Louis swats him on the leg.

“Don’t brush it off.” He says. “Don’t pretend like what you’re doing isn’t amazing.” Harry’s cheeks grow red.

“That’s what friends do.” He states. “I’m nothing special.” 

Louis takes his head off Harry’s shoulder and spins around so that his whole body is facing him. He places his hands on Harry’s shoulders. “Now you listen to me.” He says, looking right into Harry’s eyes. “You’ve been nothing but nice to me ever since the moment you met me. You could have left me out in the rain that one night, but you didn’t. You could have kicked me out the next morning, but you didn’t. And you could have forgotten about me after I left, but instead you decided to make me a house. There is no reason why I should have the privilege of being your best friend, because you’re probably the greatest person in the entire world, and I’d be lucky if I was even half the person you are.” He says, taking his hands off Harry’s shoulders. “You are definitely something special.”

Harry blinks a few times, trying to hold himself together. He opens his mouth, trying to form words, but he can’t, so he just smiles and throws himself into Louis’ arms. Louis hugs him for as long as he wants to be hugged. When Harry’s finally ready, he pulls away. 

“I love you.” He says. Louis scrunches his eyebrows together.

“Are you sure?” Louis asks. Harry breaks out into a fit of giggles. 

“Yes, silly!” He says. Louis beams and leans forward, kissing Harry quickly on the lips. 

“I love you too.” He says. Harry smiles so big that his cheeks start to hurt. His legs kick with excitement. His heart speeds up to a rate that he doesn’t even think is healthy. He doesn’t really know what to do, so he gives Louis another hug. It’s so forceful, that it knocks Louis backward. 

“Sorry.” Harry giggles, climbing off of Louis and laying down next to him. Louis chuckles and rolls onto his side so that he can face Harry. 

“Merry Christmas, Harry.” He says. 

“Merry Christmas, Louis.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and please let me know what you think!


	10. Movies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I'm back! So, I wrote this in the car on my way home from Disneyland, and was unable to check for any mistakes, so if you find any please forgive me. I'm leaving again tomorrow and will be in the car for around 3 hours, so I'll try to get another chapter done while I'm gone. Thanks for reading and I hope you guys had a nice Christmas!
> 
> I also planned out the rest of the fic. There will be at least 9 more chapters. I'm very excited about a few upcoming ones!
> 
> Oh and this chapter is partly inspired by Harry's Titanic tweet. And I can never resist writing about Titanic.

Harry tries his best to stay up, but an hour later, he's sleeping soundly on Louis chest. The sound of someone banging on the shed door wakes him up. He sits up and rubs his eyes with the sleeve of his pajamas. He pushes himself off the bed and walks over to the door. 

"Who is it?" He whispers, trying not to wake Louis, who is still asleep on the bed.

"Harry, it's me." Lou says from the other side of the door. Harry smiles and pulls the door open.

"Good morning, Lou! Merry Christmas!" He says, cheerily. Lou gives him a quick smile, then grabs his wrist and pulls him out into the yard. She closes the door behind them and starts walking towards the house. "What's going on?" Harry asks, confused.

"Your uncle is home and is asking where you are." She answers. Harry immediately quickens his pace. 

"How long has he been home?" He asks. 

"About 10 minutes." She says. "Not very long." 

Harry lets out a sigh of relief. They get to the back door and Lou pushes it open. They scramble into the house. Harry kicks off his shoes, which had gotten wet from the grass, and tosses them into a nearby closet. They walk quickly to the kitchen, and stop when they get to the door. Harry takes a deep breath and tries to look calm. Lou gives him a reassuring smile, and opens the door. Harry sees his uncle sitting at the breakfast table, eating some eggs.

"Merry Christmas!" He says, running over and giving him a hug. The hug isn't return so Harry quickly pulls away and tries his best to make the moment as little awkward as possible. "How was the party?" He asks. 

"Boring." His uncle mutters.

"That's too bad." Harry says, trying to sound sincere. His uncle grunts out a 'yeah' and returns his attention towards the eggs. 

Harry is about to turn and leave, when his uncle speaks again. "Didn't you go over to Niall's house yesterday?" He asks, keeping his eyes on the plate. Harry nods.

"Uh yeah." He says. "It was fun." 

"Was that boy there?" He asks. "The one that was sleeping over that one day?"

Harry's face grows hot, but he tries to ignore the fact that his cheeks are most likely red. "No." He answers. His uncle looks away from the eggs, and up at him.

"I like that boy." He says. Harry's eyes grow wide. His uncle has never shown signs of liking anything, and admitting that he actually liked someone was even more of a surprise.

"What?" Is all that Harry is able to let out. He never thought anyone could actually die from shock, but he wouldn't be surprised if he dropped down dead at this very moment.

"He was very polite. When I told him that he wasn't allowed to be here, he said that it was his fault and not to blame you. I like it when someone takes responsibility of their actions. It shows that he is well disciplined at home and was brought up well. And he shook my hand and said it was a pleasure meeting me. He is a very nice boy and I think he could be a good influence on you." He says. When he is finished, he turns back to his eggs, and takes a bite, and Harry knows that the conversation is over.

He smiles and spins around. He leaves the room, and finds Lou waiting patiently at the bottom of the stairs. There's a present in her hands, wrapped in blue wrapping paper. 

"Merry Christmas, Harry." She says, handing it to him. Harry grins and rips the papers away. He opens the box and see two sweaters tucked inside. 

"Two sweaters? That's too much. I only needed one. I can't accept both." He says. Lou laughs. 

"Only one of them is for you." She says. It takes Harry a moment to realize who the other sweater is for. When he does, he wraps his arms around Lou and gives her the best hug he can manage. 

"Thank you." He whispers into her shoulder. 

"No need to thank me." He says ruffling up his hair. "Now go back outside. I'll get you if your uncle needs you." She adds. Harry nods and runs past her, up the stairs.

"I'm gonna grab a few things first." He says. He takes the stairs, two at a time, and sprints through the hallway, to his door. He pushes it open and runs into his room. He unplugs his laptop and tucks it under his arm. He grabs a blanket from his bed, and leaves his room. He tries to walk as fast as he can down the stairs, without dropping the laptop. When he's at the bottom of the staircase, he quickly walks into the living room, and grabs the first movie he sees off the movie self. 

He checks to make sure his uncle isn't around, then walks to the back door, opens it, and steps outside. He makes way to the shed, and walks inside. Louis is still fast asleep. Harry sets the laptop, the movie, the blanket, and the sweaters down on the table and sits on the end of the bed. 

"Louis." He says softly, shaking him awake. Louis grumbles and rolls over. "Wake up Louis." Harry says. 

"No." Louis mumbles. 

"Please." Harry says. Louis shakes his head.

"No." He says again. 

"I have a present for you." Harry tries. Louis sits up and looks around. 

"Where?" He asks. Harry giggles and stands up from the bed. He walks over to the table, grabs the smaller sweater out of the box, and tosses it to Louis. 

"It's from Lou." He says. Louis grins and pulls the sweater on over his head.

"It's really warm." He says. "And very soft. I'll have to tell her thank you the next time I see her." 

"I think I hugged her enough for the both of us." Harry says, grabbing the laptop, the blanket, and the movie and walking back over. He sits down next to Louis and opens the computer up. He presses the on button and slides open the DVD player. 

"What movie did you get?" Louis asks. Harry looks down at the movie box in his hand. 

"I just kinda grabbed one." He says, reading the title. "Titanic." He answers. 

"My mom loves that movie." Louis says. "But I was never allowed to watch it." Harry pops the disc one out of the box and puts it into his laptop. He slides the DVD slot shut and the title screen pops up. Harry spreads the blanket out on their legs and leans his back against the wall. Louis curls up next to him and does the same.

Harry presses play and the movie begins. The screen fills with people waving goodbye, from the decks of what Harry assumes is the Titanic.

"Those people are all gonna die." Louis says.

"Hey!" Harry whines. "No spoilers!" Louis pauses the movie and looks at Harry. 

"Tell me you're kidding." He says. Harry gives him a confused look. Louis starts to laugh. "Are you honestly telling me that you don't know what happens in Titanic?" 

"I've never seen it before." He says. "And how do you know, you've never seen it before either."

"Harry!" Louis giggles. "It's based on a true story!" Harry shrugs and presses play again. 

"I've heard of it but I don't know what happens." He argues. Louis giggles and presses a kiss onto his cheek. 

"You need to get out more." He says. Harry rolls his eyes and turns the volume up on his laptop. 

A few minutes later, Jack appears on the screen. "He kinda looks like you." Harry says. Louis barks out a laugh.

"He looks nothing like me." He says. 

Harry looks at Louis, then back at Jack, then back at Louis. "Yes he does." He says. Louis rolls his eyes and shakes his head.

"You're on something." He says. They turn their attention back towards the computer screen. Jack makes an annoyed face, similar to the one Louis had made a few moments ago. 

"See!" Harry cries, sitting up straight. "That's the face you made! He just made your face!" He says, pointing at the screen. 

Louis decides to let it go, and they continue watching the movie. They remain pretty quiet during the first disc, each boy letting out a bit of commentary every once in a while.

Harry gets extremely squirmy and uncomfortable during the scene where Jack draws Rose. He covers his eyes with his hands and mumbles 'I didn't know there would be boobs' while Louis laughs at him and says 'that's why my mom never let me watch it'. 

After the first disc is over, Harry swaps it out for the second one. 

"I think they're both gonna live." He says. Louis debates it in his head for a couple seconds before adding in his thoughts. 

"I think they're both gonna make it off the boat, but Jack isn't gonna live to be that old because he isn't with Rose telling the story." He says. 

They stay completely quiet until Rose is on the lifeboat, and then jumps back onto the Titanic. “Well that was a dumb idea.” He says, frowning at the computer. “He might have been able to save himself since he didn’t have to worry about her anymore, but now she’s just weighing him down.”

“Yeah I guess she didn’t really think it through.” Harry agrees.

Louis continues to question Rose’s actions throughout the rest of them movie. When Rose is laying on the door, with Jack next to her in the water, Louis speaks up again. “They could have both fit on that door.” He spits out. “She needs to move over.”

“Or at least give him the life jacket.” Harry adds.

“Yeah!” Louis says, sitting up. “That’s not fair at all!” 

A couple of minutes pass. Jack is now dead and Rose is aboard the Carpathia. Harry can feel his eyes getting misty, but actual tears don’t start rolling down his cheeks until she says that her last name is Dawson, which was Jack’s last name. Louis sits next to him, too angry to actually cry. When the movie is over, Harry is a sobbing mess while Louis stares angrily at the computer. 

“She should have moved over!” He cries. Harry nods because he’s crying too hard to actually talk. “And she just left him! She said she’d never let go, and then she left him!” Louis continues. “What was that?” 

Louis continues to rant about the movie while Harry tries to calm down. After an hour, all his tears are gone, and he has nothing to do but watch as Louis complains, in detail, about every single thing Rose did wrong in that movie, starting with wearing an ugly purple hat at the beginning. He nods and tries to show Louis that he is on his side, but he lets a few giggles out every once in a while. When he does, Louis stops and asks, completely serious, “Do you think this is a joke?”

To which Harry responds, “No. Of course not.” 

And then Louis starts back up again with a different reason why Rose is the sole reason why the Titanic sank. This continues until Lou knocks on the door, telling Harry it’s time for dinner. Harry hugs Louis goodbye and on his way back to the house, he can still hear Louis muttering to himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and please let me know what you think!


	11. The Game of Life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year! So I wrote this whole chapter while listening to Alex and Sierra on repeat, so there's a lot of cute stuff that goes on (because next to Harry and Louis, Alex and Sierra are the cutest couple ever). I hope you like it, and thanks for reading!

Harry's uncle leaves on a business trip the next day, so Louis is free to sleep in the house for a week. They spend the first day building pillow forts in the living room and trying to make homemade ice cream. The pillow forts all fell down and the ice cream ended up just being really cold vanilla milk with sugar at the bottom, but they didn't care. They took turns jumping from the couch into the mountain of pillows and blankets, and Harry ended up drinking the vanilla milk without any protest.

The second day, they try to convince Lou to get them real ice cream. 

"It's too cold for ice cream." She says, cleaning off the kitchen table. 

"It's never too cold for ice cream." Harry argues. Lou stops cleaning and gives him a smug smile. 

"Ok, but who's in charge?" She counters. Harry's head drops. 

"You are." He says. She nods and pats him on the back. 

"That's right." She says. "Now go play with Louis. I got out Life for you two to play." 

"Okay." Harry says sadly. He walks out of the kitchen and into the living room, where Louis is waiting patiently on the couch. Harry plops down next to him and drapes his legs over Louis' lap. "She said no." He says. Louis frowns. 

"Aw man." He says. "Did you do the pouty face I told you to do?" Harry nods. 

"Yep, it didn't change her mind." He says. 

"I thought for sure that would work." Louis says sadly. He sighs in frustration. Harry glances at the Life box sitting on the table. 

"Do you wanna play?" He asks, motioning to the box. Louis leans forward and grabs the box off the table. He opens it up and looks inside. 

"I've never played before." He says. Harry moves his legs off of Louis' lap and sits up. 

"How can you have never played Life before?" He asks, his eyes wide. Louis shrugs. 

"I don't know." He says. "We owned it. I just always picked monopoly instead."

Harry takes the board out of the box and lays it out on the coffee table. Louis snatches the houses out and puts them down where they fit with the board. Harry reaches into the box, grabs the house cards, and sets them down next to the house square. He takes the money and the money stand out of the box and places at the end of the coffee table, next to the top of the board. Louis pulls the spinner out and puts it in the center of the board

"It's a pretty easy game to play." Harry says, grabbing the cars out of the box. "Here, pick a car." He adds, opening his head. Louis looks at them for a second before picking the green one. Harry takes the blue one and tosses the rest back into the box.

"Do you want to go to college or just get a job?" He asks. Louis looks down at the college and job spaces, then back at Harry. 

"Do I not get a job if I go to college?" He asks. Harry shakes his head. 

"No." He says. "You still get a job. But if you go to college, you have to take a longer route and then you graduate, then you get a job. And you have to pay off your student loans at the end." He says. Louis looks intensely down at the board, then places his car down on the college route. Harry puts his on the job route and reaches in the box. "Can you fan these out for me so I can pick one?" He asks, pulling the job cards out of the box and handing them to Louis.

Louis does what he is told and fans the cards out. Harry reaches out and grabs one close to the end. "Doctor." He says, throwing the card back into the box. "I don't have a high enough education to be a doctor." Louis face lights up.

"So does that mean I can be a doctor?" He asks. "Because I went to college?" 

"Yeah, sure." Harry says, reaching for another card. "If you pick doctor. People who go to college can be whatever they want." Louis smiles. 

"Cool." He says, satisfied with his choice of going to school. 

Harry flips his new card over. "Singer!" He says, excitedly. "I'll take it!" 

"That's a good match." Louis says. "Because you're a good singer." Harry blushes and spins the spinner. It lands on six. He moves his car six spaces and it lands on a life tile space. 

"Yay!" He cheers, grabbing a life tile out of the box. "When you get these, you can't flip them over until the end of the game. They have money numbers on the other side and when you retire, you get the money." Louis nods and spins the spinner. It lands on 10. He moves his car and it lands on the graduation space. 

"Hey!" Louis says, sitting up straight. "I get a job now!" Harry reaches into the box and pulls out the job cards. He fans them out in front of Louis Louis picks the card in the very middle. He flips it over, and his face drops. "A teacher?" He says. 

"But it doesn't say what kind of teacher." Harry says, trying to make him feel better, because he clearly didn't want to be a teacher. "You can teach whatever you want." Louis thinks about it for a couple seconds, then smiles. 

"I can be a drama teacher." He says. He smiles to himself and put his card down on the table, happy with his new job. 

The game goes smoothly until Harry lands on the marriage square. He bites his lip and looks down at the boy and the girl in front of the church. 

"What's wrong?" Louis asks, looking at the board and trying to see what is making Harry so puzzled. 

"Well," Harry says. "Whenever I play with Lou, I put a pink girl peg next to my blue boy peg when I get married." 

"Yeah, and?" Louis asks. 

"I don't want a pink girl peg. I want another blue boy peg." He says quietly. 

"I don't think the game really has a rule saying you can't put another blue one." He says, pulling the instructions out of the box. "See look!" He points at the section about getting married. "It just says you add another peg into the car. So I think it's fine if you add another blue one." Harry smiles and places a blue peg next to his original one. 

A few turns later, Louis lands on the marriage space. He puts another blue peg in his car. 

"It's kind of dumb that they force you to get married." He says. "I mean, I only graduated from high school a few turns ago, and I just got a new job. I don't think I'm ready to get married." He admits. Harry pats him on the shoulder.

"The married life is great." He says, motioning down to his two blue pegs. Louis chuckles and Harry takes his turn.

He lands on a house space. "Yes!" He says, grabbing the house cards and passing them to Louis. Louis fans them out in front of him. "There's this really pretty house that I always want to get." He says. 

"Well aren't you a singer?" Louis asks. "You're gonna be on tour all the time, you don't need a big house." Harry rolls his eyes.

"Singers always have big houses." He states. He picks a card and flips it over. "Why is my house broken into two?" He asks, frowning and showing Louis the card. Louis break out into a fit of laughter. "It's not funny!" Harry whines.

"It's a little funny." Louis says. Harry sighs and puts the card down next to him. 

When it's Louis turn to get a house, he picks the one that Harry had wanted. 

"You can just live with me!" He says. Harry's face lights up. 

"Can I really?" He asks. Louis shrugs. 

"Sure. Just as long as you do the cooking and cleaning." He says. Harry grins and tosses his broken house card back into the box. 

"I won't be needing that then." He says. 

The next turn, Harry lands on a baby space, and he gets a baby girl. A few turns later, Louis gets a boy. 

"I'm named my girl Charlotte." Harry says, sounding proud if himself. 

"That's one of my sisters names." Louis says. Harry tilts his head to the side. 

"You have sisters?" He asks. Louis nods. 

"Yeah. I have two of them." He says. "Charlotte and Fiz. And we call Charlotte, Lottie." 

"Are they younger than you?" Harry asks. 

"Yeah. They're both really young. Fiz is was still a newborn the last time I saw them." Louis says, looking down at his hands. 

"I have a sister too." Harry mumbles. Louis looks up. 

"Why doesn't she live here with you?" He asks. 

"She had a really good friend that offered to let her live with her and her family. My uncle argued with them about it for a long time, but eventually gave in." He says quietly. "My parents died when I was about two. Before they died, we all lived together in this house. After the accident, my uncle moved in. My sister used to come over a lot when I was little, but I haven't seen her in over a year." His voice cracks on the last word, so he stops talking, not wanting to cry in front of Louis. 

"My sisters were sent to a home." Louis whispers, trying to keep his voice steady. "I would have gone too, but I didn't want to, so I ran away. I have no idea where my parents are." 

It's quiet for a few minutes, both boys trying their best not to let any tears slip out from the corners of their eyes. After they both seem to be better, Louis spins the spinning wheel, and takes his turn. 

Within the next couple of turns, Harry manages to land on every single child space. His car is filled, to the point where he can't fit all of his children in one car. 

"Should get another car?" He asks. 

"Well, it has been a while since you had you had your first child, maybe they're old enough to drive, and they can take their own car." Louis says. "Or they can just car pool with mine. I only have one, so there's plenty of room in my car." He suggests. 

"And that's better for the environment." Harry says, putting his three extra children in Louis' car. Louis tries his best not to rolls eyes at Harry's attempt to be funny. 

About 20 minutes later, the game is almost over. Both boys are nearing retirement. Harry lands on a grandchildren square, and tries his best not to show how excited he really is as he figures out a way to put another child safely in his car.

They both end up going to the country side after retirement. They flip over all their life tiles, and collect all the money. 

"How do you win?" Louis asks.

"Whoever has the most money at the end wins." Harry answers. 

"But aren't we still living together?" Louis asks. Harry nods. "So don't we share all the money?" Harry stops counting his money, and sets it down on the table. He thinks about it for a few seconds, before answering. 

"You're right." He says. "So I guess we both win." Louis smiles and gives Harry a high five. 

"Awesome!" He says. 

They clean up the game and leave the box on the table. Lou smiles at them as the pass her, on their way up to Harry's room. Harry throws opens the door, and turns on the tv on the way to his bed. Louis closes the door behind them. When he reaches Harry, he bends down and gives him a hug. 

They hug until all the sadness from the earlier conversation about their families slips away from them, and they're left with their normal, happy selves. 

"Who needs a family anyway?" Louis says jokingly. Harry swats him on the arm.

"Everybody needs a family, silly." He says. 

"I don't have one, and I'm doing just fine." Louis states. 

"I'll be your family." Harry says, tightening his grip around Louis. 

And Louis doesn't really know what to say, so he just answers with, "Ok."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, and please let me know what you think! The next chapter should be out before Sunday! :)


	12. Swimming

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I go back to school on Tuesday, so the updates will go back to being just once a week, unless I have an extremely light homework day or something. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy the update!

The next day, it’s raining too hard for them to go outside. They run around the house, screaming, have wrestling matches on the carpet, and talk Lou’s ears off because they’re bored and can’t go outside. By the time lunchtime rolls around, they’ve used up all of Lou’s patience for the day, so she sits them down in Harry’s room with a couple of sandwiches, a box of crayons, and a few pieces and blank paper. 

“You two can’t leave this room until you’ve drawn fridge worthy pictures.” She says. 

“Who’s the one that decides if it’s fridge worthy?” Louis asks. 

“I am.” She answers, walking over to the door. “And I’m very picky.” She adds, before turning around and leaving. 

Harry immediately starts on his picture. He pulls a blue crayon out of the box, and starts drawing the sky. Louis sits, staring down at his paper, not sure of what he should draw. 

“What you gonna draw?” He asks, leaning over and looking at Harry’s paper. Harry covers the paper with his hand. 

“You can’t see it until it’s done!” He says. Louis rolls his eyes and moves back to his paper. 

A few minutes later, he finally decides what he wants to draw. He takes out a green crayon and draws as fast as he can, to catch up with Harry, who seems to be already halfway done. In about 10 minutes, both boys are finished. 

“What did you draw?” Harry asks. Louis shows his paper to Harry and smiles, proud of himself. “What is it?” Harry asks, looking at a giant green blob with orange and red lines coming out of it. Louis’ face drops and replaces his smile with a frown. 

“It a fire breathing dragon.” He says, looking at his paper. He points at the little multicolored blobs at the bottom of the paper. “And these are the people. They’re sad because they’re probably going to die.” 

Harry nods. “Well what are these?” He asks, pointing to the blue and green things inside a blue circle. 

“Those are fish!” Louis says. “They’re happy because they’re in the water and the dragon can’t get them! I made you the green fish and me the blue fish.” Harry grins.

“Oh cool! I like it a lot. It’s a very cool picture.” He says. Louis beams. 

“Thanks!” He says. “What did you draw?” Harry hands Louis his paper.

“I drew us.” He says, excitedly. “We’re humans though, not fish.” Louis looks down at the two figures, standing in what looks like a grassy field that’s filled with flowers.

“Are we in a meadow?” Louis asks. Harry nods.

“Yeah.” He says, nodding his head. 

“Why?” Louis asks, looking at Harry.

“I had a dream once where we were in a meadow and it looked like fun.” Harry answers, shrugging.

“Oh.” Louis says, looking back at the picture. “Well, it’s a great picture! And it does look fun. We should find a meadow sometime.” Harry smiles and claps his hands

“That sounds gr-.” His words are cut short by the lights flickering. They flicker for only a few seconds, before going out completely. Harry reaches out and grabs Louis’ arm. “What just happened?” He asks, scared.

“I think the power went out.” Louis says. He crawls across the floor, to Harry’s nightstand. He pulls the drawer open, and takes out the flashlight. He flicks the light on and shines it over toward Harry.

“Why did it go out?” Harry asks, crawling over to Louis. He sits down next to him and grabs hold of his arm again.

“Probably because of the storm.” Louis says. “Don’t be scared, Harry. Things like this happen all the time.” He adds, pulling Harry’s hand off of his arm and lacing their fingers together. He kisses Harry’s head and pulls him closer. Harry’s about to kiss him back when there’s a knock on the door. The two quickly pull apart just in time for Lou to walk in. 

“Oh good, you guys have a flashlight.” She says, relieved. “I brought you up a bunch of candles. to keep the room a bit brighter.” She sets a few down on Harry’s dresser, and lights them. “I don’t know how long the power is going to be out, so I’m going to run to the store and get some ice for the stuff in the freezer, so it doesn't spoil.” She says. “You two stay up here and please be careful.” 

“We will.” Harry assures her. She gives him a smile, then walks out of his room. “Hey wanna play hide and go seek in the dark?” Harry asks, turning toward Louis. “Niall, Liam, Zayn, and I play all the time and it’s really fun.” 

“Sure.” Louis says, standing up. “You hide first.” He tells him, putting his hands over his eyes. “I’ll count to 20.” 

Harry quietly crawls over to the corner of his room and curls up into a ball. He tries to make himself as small as he possibly can before Louis is done counting.

Twenty seconds later, Louis uncovers his eyes and says, “Ready or not, here I come.” He crawls around Harry’s room, looking under his bed and under his desk. He crawls over to Harry’s closet, and quickly peeks inside. Harry pushes himself more against the wall. Louis sees movement coming from the corner of the room, and crawls over. 

“Found you!” He says, tackling Harry. Harry giggles and playfully pushes him off.  
“This room is a little small to play hide and seek in.” Harry admits. 

They sit together in the corner for a few minutes, listening to the sound of the rain hitting the window and walls. Harry leans his head on Louis’ shoulder. “It was raining the day I found you.” He mumbles. Louis chuckles. 

“It was freezing cold too, if I remember correctly.” He adds. Harry wraps his arm around Louis’ waist.

“You were sick and you made me sick.” He says. 

“Sorry ‘bout that.” Louis says. “However, I’m not that sorry because you weren’t sick for very long.” He adds. Harry’s mouth drops. 

“Rude.” He says, punching Louis lightly on the arm. “It’s just because my body is healthier than yours and I can fight off illnesses better.” He jokes. Louis laughs.

“Oh that is not true!” He says. “I was out in the cold for days, and I only got a little cold. You shared a bed with me for a few hours and you get sick. I think I’m the one with the healthier body.” Harry shakes his head.

“I’m still not convinced.” He says. 

“Fine.” Louis says, giving up. “You can have the healthier body but I’m the manlier one.” He says. Harry laughs.

“I guess.” He says. Louis smiles to himself. “But that’s not really saying much, because I’m not that manly.” He adds. Louis shrugs.

“All that matters is that I’m manlier.” He states. The rain gets heavier. Louis stands up and looks out the window. “Wow. It’s pouring.” He says. Harry stands next to him and looks down at the rain, which is making little pools on the sidewalk.

“I dare you to jump into my pool.” He says. Louis turns away from the window and gives him a confused look.

“Why would I do that?” He asks. 

“To prove how manly you really are.” Harry says. Louis is about to say no, but he stops himself. 

He thinks about it for a few seconds before saying, “Fine.” He turns, grabs the flashlight, and walks out of the room, leaving Harry standing frozen with shock. He shakes himself out of it and quickly out of it and runs to catch up with Louis, who is already halfway down the stairs. 

“You’re gonna swim in your clothes?” He asks. Louis nods.

“Yep.” He says, getting to the bottom of the stairs. They walk through the house, to the back door. Louis braces himself, before opening it. Wind and rain fly into the house. Louis walks outside, and Harry follows, closing the door behind him.

“You don’t really have to jump into the pool.” He says, trying to talk Louis out of it. But Louis is determined. 

“You wanna jump in with me?” He asks. Harry shakes his head.

“Not really.” He says, as they reach the side of the pool. Louis pushes the pool cover away. “You’re crazy.” Harry says, crossing his arms. “I can’t believe you’re actually doing this.”

Louis jumps into the air, and cannon balls into the pool. It’s freezing. He quickly kicks to the surface. “Help! I can’t swim!” He lies, letting himself fall back down below the surface of the water. He holds his breath and tries to stay under for as long as possible. 

Harry stands at the pools edge, debating jumping in or not. After Louis stops splashing and the water is still, he decides that he really is drowning, and jumps in. The water is so cold, that his toes go numb instantly. He swims to the center of the pool, where he saw Louis. 

He opens his eyes just in time to see Louis swimming towards him. They both swim to the surface. “You scared me!” Harry says, pushing him. Louis laughs and swims back toward Harry.

“I just wanted you to come swimming with me.” He says, innocently. Harry puts his hands up to shield his eyes from the rain.

“I’m cold.” He whines. Louis rolls his eyes and grabs Harry’s hand, pulling them even closer together. 

“Shh.” He says, leaning in and kissing Harry. Harry wants to pull away and run back into the warm house, but he hadn’t had a proper kiss from Louis in weeks, so he kisses him back. He kisses him until the numbness in his toes travels to the rest of his body, and he can’t feel anything other than Louis’ lips pressed against his. 

Louis is the one to pull away first. “I’m freezing.” He says, pulling Harry over to the edge of the pool. They both hop out. It’s a lot colder out of the water, so Louis quickly pulls the pool cover back on, and they run back into the house. They climb the stairs as fast as they possibly can, and sprint into Harry’s room. Harry finds two pairs of footie pajamas in his closet, and tosses one to Louis. They both shed their wet clothes off, and pull the pajamas on. Harry tosses all the wet clothes into the hamper. Louis jumps into bed and Harry walks over and sits next to him. He pulls the blanket over their legs and curls up next to Louis. 

They stay cuddled together until their bodies go back to a normal temperature. Lou knocked on the door, telling them that she was back, about 5 minutes after they had ran back inside. When they’re warm enough to talk in complete sentences, the power comes back. Louis tries to sit up, but Harry pulls him back down, so he grabs the remote off of the nightstand and they watch TV until they’re too tired to keep their eyes open.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and please let me know what you thought! :)


	13. Shopping

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! So updates are probably gonna be on the weekends from now on since I'm back at school! In this chapter, I mention a book called The Missing Piece. I only put a tiny chunk of it in, but it's a really adorable book about soulmates (kinda). Basically, a circle spends the whole book looking for it's missing piece, so it can be whole. It's really cute and yeah here's a cute youtube video that has the whole book (it's super short) if you guys want to check it out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mT0wKeJQvGk

The next day is just as rainy, if not more. Lou decides to take them shopping, because it’s clear that they are sick of being in the house. Harry jumps up and down, clapping his hands, when she tells him to get ready. He runs up to his room as fast as he possibly can, and shakes Louis awake. 

“Louis!” He says, sitting down next to him. Louis slowly opens his eyes. 

“What is it, Harry?” He asks, yawning. 

“We’re going shopping today!” Harry answers. Louis smiles and rolls his eyes. Harry leaps off his bed and sprints to his closet. He picks out a shirt, and tosses it to Louis. “You need to wake up.” He says, seeing that Louis had fallen back asleep.

“It’s early.” Louis complains. 

“It’s almost noon.” Harry laughs, walking over to his window and opening the blinds. Light pours into the room. Louis groans and throws his hands in front of his face. 

“Fine. Fine.” He says, sitting up. “I’ll be ready in five minutes.”

Harry gives him a thumbs up, before throwing on a jacket, and walking out of his room. “Louis will be ready in about five minutes, then we can go.” He says, walking into the kitchen. 

“Sounds good.” Lou says, reaching into her purse. She pulls out her wallet. “You need a couple things from the store.” She says, taking some money out of the wallet and handing it to Harry. “So here is some money. You and Louis can wander around the store while I’m shopping. We will meet at the front entrance at exactly three.” Harry smiles and stuffs the money into his pants pocket. 

“Thanks.” Harry says. 

Lou smiles and ruffles his hair. She puts her wallet back into her purse, and places it over her shoulder. They walk together to the front door, and wait for Louis. Louis ends up taking ten minutes, not five. Harry tells Lou its because he’s a drama queen that loves to keep people waiting. 

“I heard that.” Louis says, walking down the stairs. Harry shrugs.

“Be ready on time next time.” He says. Louis frowns at him and tries to look hurt, but cracks a smile only a second later. Lou opens the front door, and leads them outside. She unlocks the car, and they both climb in. 

“I gave Harry some money, Louis. Make sure he doesn’t spend it all on stuff for himself.” She says, getting in and starting the car. Louis laughs.

“Hey!” Harry whines. “I was gonna buy Louis some stuff!” He says, defending himself. Louis reaches over and pats his hand.

“I know.” He whispers. Lou smiles, seeing the exchange through the rearview mirror. 

After a ten minute drive, they arrive at the store. Harry unbuckles his seatbelt, and hops out of the car. He runs around the car and meets Louis on the other side.Lou walks them to the front door. When they get there, she stops and turns to look at Harry.

“Do you have your money?” She asks.

“Yes.” Harry says, patting his pocket.

“What time are we meeting back here?”

Harry thinks about it for a couple of seconds before answering, “At exactly three.” She smiles and nods.

“Alright boys.” She says. “Have fun. And stay out of trouble.” 

They both wave goodbye, and go their separate ways. Lou starts walking towards the food section, Louis and Harry start walking to the toys. Louis grabs a cart on their way over. 

“I dont think we need a cart.” Harry says. “I only need a couple things, so maybe just a basket.” Louis shakes his head.

“Carts are way more fun.” He says. Harry laughs. 

“How are carts fun?” He asks. Louis grins. 

“Watch.” He says. He backs up a few steps, then starts running as fast as he can, while pushing the cart. Harry runs after him. When Louis feels that the cart is at a good speed, he jumps up onto the metal bar in back of it. He goes sailing down the aisle. 

The cart keeps rolling for a couple of seconds, before coming to a stop. Harry claps his hands, and runs over. 

“That was awesome!” He says. Louis hops off the cart.

“I told you carts are fun!” He says.

For the next hour, they take turns on the cart. Harry almost flies off it twice and they knock down a couple of displays, but they don’t bother stopping. Louis is about to go get another cart, so they can race, when a manager walks up to them and threatens to kick them out of the store. Louis assures him that they will stop, and he leaves them with a warning. 

“It’s almost two, so we should probably start shopping anyway.” Harry says.

“What do you need to get?” Louis asks. 

“Umm.” Harry says, trying to think of the list of things Lou had told him early that day. “Toothpaste, socks, soap, pencils, and I think that’s it.” He says. Louis looks up at the signs above them, that tells the which aisles are near them. 

“Well toothpaste and soap are probably pretty close to each other.” He says. “And that section is right over there.” He says, pointing forward.

“Ok then, lets go!” Harry says. He grabs Louis’ hand, and starts pulling him in the direction he had pointed. Louis drags his feet and stares at Harry in confusion. Harry stops walking. “What?” He asks.

Louis glances down at their hands, then back up at Harry. “Why are you holding my hand?” He asks. 

Harry raises an eyebrow in confusion. “We always hold hands?” He says, sounding a little hurt. Louis shakes his head and pulls his hand away from Harrys. 

“Yeah.” He agrees. “But only when we’re at your house and in your room.” He adds. “We can’t hold hands in public, Harry. People won’t accept it.” Harry bites his lip and looks down at the ground.

“What do you mean they won’t accept it?” He mumbles. Louis sighs, frustrated

“Most people don’t like it when two boys hold hands.” Louis explains. “I don’t know why, but they just don’t. And I learned in school that a lot of people get bullied really bad if they like someone who is the same gender as them.” Harry looks up at him.

“Does that mean we’ll get bullied?” He asks, his voice cracking. Louis shakes his head.

“Not if we keep it a secret.” He whispers. Harry nods and starts walking. 

“Can we tell Lou?” He asks. “I tell Lou all my secrets.” Louis debates it in his head for a couple seconds.

“Maybe in a few weeks. Or months.” He says. 

They get to the soap section and stop the cart. Harry starts smelling all the soaps, trying to find a scent he likes. Louis leaves to go get him some toothpaste. He comes back a few minutes later and drops a Colgate tube into the cart. 

“Hey Louis?” Harry says, opening a bottle of grape scented soap and taking a whiff. He makes a disgusted face, and puts the bottle back on the shelf.

“Yeah?”

“Are you my boyfriend?” Harry asks. The question catches Louis off guard. He steps back and almost knocks over the entire shelf of shampoo behind him.

“Uh..” He manages to get out. Harry’s eyes drop. He nods his head, sadly, and turns his attention back towards the soap. He finds an apple pie one he likes, and tosses it into the cart. He starts pushing it, and the two make their way to the clothing section. “Yes.” Louis says, after a couple of minutes of silence. Harry stops walking.

“Really?” He asks, almost squealing with excitement. Louis smiles and shrugs, trying to make it seem like it’s not that big of a deal.

“Well… yeah.” He says, starting to blush. Harry can’t help but throw his arms around him and give him a quick hug.

“But you’re still my best friend.” Harry says, pulling away. Louis nods, and they start walking again. “You’ll always be my best friend.” Louis blushes bright red.

“Thanks.” He mumbles, trying to get his face back to it’s normal color. 

They find a stand with pencils on the way to the socks, so they pick out the coolest ones they can find. Louis picks out a green set, and Harry picks out a blue one. When they find the socks, Harry tells Louis to pick some out for him. Louis giggles and grabs a pack of bright pink ones. 

When they’re all done with Harry’s shopping, they still have a half hour left. “Can we go look at the books?” Harry asks, already pulling Louis in that direction. Louis doesn’t argue. When they find the books, Harry pulls one off the self, called the Missing Piece. 

“It’s by the guy who wrote the Giving Tree.” Louis states, looking at the cover. 

“Will you read it to me?” Harry asks, sitting on the ground. He tugs on Louis’ arm. Louis laughs and sits down next to him.

“You can read?” He says. Harry blushes. 

“But I like to listen to you read.” He says. Louis sighs and opens the book. 

“It was missing a piece. And it was not happy.” Louis begins. “So it set off in search of it’s missing piece. And as it rolled it sang this song, ‘Oh I’m looking for my missing piece I’m looking for m-”

“Wait!” Harry stops him. Louis stops reading and sets the book down on his legs.

“What?” He asks. 

“You weren’t singing.” Harry giggles. Louis rolls his eyes and brings the book back up.

“Oh I’m looking for my missing piece. I’m looking for my missing piece. Hi-dee-ho, here I go, looking for my missing piece.” He sings. Harry giggles and curls up next to him. He smiles throughout the whole book, as Louis changes his voices to match the different characters and singing all the songs, each one a little more passionate than the last. When the book is over, Harry claps his hands.

“That was beautiful!” He says. “Truly moving.” Louis stands up and takes a bow.

“Thank you. Thank you.” He says, dropping the book into the cart. Harry gives him a confused look. “What? I liked the book. And Lou said I could get something.”

Harry chuckles, and the two of them bring the cart over to the check out stations. They pay for their stuff, and are at the door at exactly three. Lou congratulates them for being on time, and as reward, they get ice cream on the way home. 

When they pull up into the driveway, Harry sees his uncles car parking in the garage. His eyes widen. “I thought he wasn’t coming home until later this week.” He says. Louis looks down, sadly. 

“I’ll sneak out into the shed.” He says. Harry puts his arm out and stops him. 

“No.” He says. “I want to properly introduce you.” Louis opens his mouth to argue with him, but Harry stops him by putting his finger on his lips. He grabs the bags out of the trunk of the car, and walks up the pathway to the house. Louis follows. “Uncle?” Harry calls out, opening the door. A few seconds later, his uncle walks into the room. 

“What do you want?” He asks, sounding annoyed. 

“Uncle, this is Louis.” Harry says, pulling Louis into the house. His uncles eyes light up slightly, recognizing Louis. 

“Oh yeah.” He says. “You were the boy who slept over that one time.” Louis nods.

“It’s good to see you again.” Louis says, offering his hand out. His uncle shakes it. Harry smiles.

“I just wanted to properly introduce him to you, since I didn’t get to that one day.” He says. “And I wanted to ask if he could sleepover tonight.” He adds. Louis’ eyes almost bulge out of their sockets. He shoots Harry a ‘what are you doing look’, which Harry ignores.

“You know I don’t like your friends sleeping over.” His uncle says, keeping his voice calm. “But I guess you can, just this once, if you promise you’ll clean up any mess you two make.” Harry nods as enthusiastically as he possibly can. 

“Of course I will.” He says.

“Fine.” His uncle mutters. Harry smiles, grabs Louis by the wrist, and starts pulling him upstairs. “Wait.” His uncle shouts, grabbing hold of Harry’s other wrist. He pulls him over and whispers into his ear, “If you make me regret my decision in trusting you, you’ll regret ever asking me. I never punished you for having him sleep over without my knowledge, and I’m not afraid to punish you now.” It sends chills down Harry’s spine. 

“I promise.” He says. His uncle lets go of his wrist, and disappears into the kitchen. Harry and Louis scramble up the stairs as fast as they can. When they reach Harry’s room, Harry quickly shuts the door behind him. He drops the bags onto his desk, and sits down in the middle of the floor. “Come sit with me.” He says, patting the stop next to him. Louis does what he is told.  
“Someday, I’m gonna have enough money to buy a house, so you won’t have to live here anymore.” He whispers. Harry grins. 

“Can it be a blue house?” He asks. Louis nods.

“Of course.” He says.

“Can it have a fence in the front?”

“If that’s what you want.”

“Can we get a cat?” Harry asks, turning so that he can face Louis. 

“You can get a cat, I’m getting a dog.” Louis says. 

“But what if the dog eats the cat?” Harry asks. Louis shrugs. 

“That’s not my problem.” He jokes. Harry slaps him on the shoulder. “Fine. Fine. I guess we can keep them separated if they don’t get along.” He says. Harry smiles. 

They’re quiet for a couple minutes, both of them listening to Harry’s uncle yelling at someone on the phone. “So.” Harry says, after the phone called ended.. “You’re my boyfriend.” 

“Yeah.” Louis answers. “I’m your boyfriend.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Please let me know what you think! (*whispers* check out the missing piece)


	14. New Year

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a 3 day weekend, so I might be able to get another chapter out on Monday. I'm very excited about the next three chapters. I want to be able to finish the whole thing by my birthday (which is the second weekend of March) so this story is going to start wrapping up pretty soon. Thanks for reading!

After much persuading, Harry’s uncle lets Harry invite Louis over on New Years Eve. The conditions were, that they have to stay out of sight, because a bunch of people from work were coming over. They also had to make sure they didn’t make a mess, and that they went to bed right after the clock strikes midnight. 

On the night of, Lou pops them some popcorn, and brings them up a tray of snacks and sodas.   
“I have to stay downstairs and help with the food, so I won’t be able to bring you guys anything, so make sure this lasts all night.” She says, placing the tray on Harry’s desk. Louis and Harry nod.

“Sounds good.” Harry says, flipping through TV channels, trying to find the one that shows the ball drop. Lou smiles and closes the door. After a few more minutes of searching, Harry finds the channel. He grins and sets the remote on his bedside table.

“I can’t believe your uncle is letting me sleep over again.” Louis says, walking over to the tray and grabbing the bowl of popcorn. Harry laughs.

“He likes you more than he likes me.” He says. Louis shrugs.

“I don’t think that’s true.” He says, climbing back onto the bed and draping his legs over Harry’s lap. He leans his back against the headboard and passes Harry the bowl.

Harry takes the bowl from him and grabs a handful of popcorn. “I think it is.” He says, shoving the popcorn into his mouth. “People like you, Louis. Grown ups especially.” Louis blushes. 

“Well, I needed to learn how to talk to grown ups.” He says. 

“What do you mean?” Harry asks, his mouth full of popcorn. Louis looks down and nervously plays with a loose thread on his sweater.

“I don’t know.” He says. “I was just really shy when I was little and I didn’t talk to anyone. My parents started sending me to see people about it, and thats when I learned how to talk to grown ups. I know what they like to hear, and I know how to stay out of trouble.” He takes his eyes off the thread, and looks at the TV. “Do you know who’s performing tonight?” He asks, changing the subject. 

Harry turns away from him. “I think Taylor Swift is.” He says. “And maybe Miley Cyrus.” 

“I hope Katy Perry does.” Louis says, leaning over and grabbing a handful of popcorn. Harry smiles.

“I love Katy Perry!” He says, so excitedly that he almost chokes on a popcorn kernel. Louis giggles.

“Me too.” He says. 

They turn their attention back towards the TV. Bruno Mars performs, and Harry finds himself dancing happily along to Treasure. He also pretty much serenades Louis with Just the Way You Are. Louis blushes and tries to get him to stop. The keep watching for another hour, and Harry can feel himself starting to get tired.

“Do you like haunted houses?” He asks, trying to keep himself distracted. Louis raises one of his eyebrows in confusion. 

“Random.” He says. “But, yeah. I guess I do. I’ve actually never been to one before. But they seem cool.” He takes the now empty bowl of popcorn and sets it on the floor.

“There’s one about a mile from here.” Harry says. “We should go there sometime.” 

Louis smiles and nods his head. “Yeah! We should. We should make, like, a bucket list.” He suggests. Harry’s face lights up. 

“That would be awesome!” He says, pushing Louis’ legs off of his lap and leaping off his bed. He runs over to his desk and grabs a paper and a pen. He scribbles ‘Louis and Harry’s bucket list’ on the top of it, then sprints back over to his bed. “Ok, so what should we put on it?” He asks.

Louis thinks about it for a while before answering, “Well, the haunted house thing, and finding a meadow.” Harry smiles and writes them down.

“What about sky diving?” Harry asks. Louis nods.

“That would be awesome!” He says. “But I think you have to be over 18 to do that, so it will be a while until we can cross that one off.” Harry shrugs.

“I’m not planning on dying before I reach the age of 18.” He says, sarcastically. “Are you?” 

Louis rolls his eyes. “No.” He says. Harry writes it down. “What about flying in a hot air balloon?” Louis asks. Harry giggles. 

“That sounds scary!” He says. 

“But sky diving isnt?” 

Harry sighs and writes it down. He also adds ‘Graduate High School’ and ‘Get a Job’. Louis takes the pen and paper from him and writes ‘Skip a Day of School’. Harry laughs. 

“And my uncle thinks you’re a good influence.” He says. 

“I think it’s safe to say that your uncle isn’t that smart, given that I’ve been living here for a week now, and he hasn’t noticed.” Louis states. 

“To be fair, he hasn’t been here for half of that week.” Harry adds. Louis grins and writes ‘Tell Uncle Off’ on the paper. “Watch fireworks from the roof of a house.” Harry says. Louis writes it down. 

“Learn to Belly Dance.” He says, writing it down without waiting for Harry to say if he actually wants to do it or not. Harry takes the paper away from him.

“I don’t want to do that.” He says. Louis rolls his eyes.

“Fine.” He mumbles, taking the paper back from Harry. He uses his hand to block Harry from seeing what he is writing. When he’s done, he removes his hand and shows Harry the paper. Harry sighs. 

“Number 11. Convince Harry to Learn How To Belly Dance.” He says, trying not to roll his eyes. Louis smiles, proud of himself, and puts the paper back down on the bed. 

“What about Milk a Cow?” Harry asks. Louis chuckles and writes it down. 

Over the next hour, they add about 100 more things to their list. Harry’s personal favorite is ‘Ride on an Elephant’ and Louis insists that ‘Get Into a Taxi and Say “Follow that car!” should be the one they do first. 

Harry glances at the clock and sees that it’s almost midnight. He grabs the remote off of his bedside table and turns the volume on the TV up. Louis cuddles up next to him and watches as Ryan Seacrest interviews Taylor Swift. 

“Ryan Seacrest is so cool.” He says. Harry laughs.

“Because?” 

“Because what does he even do?” Louis says. “He basically gets paid just for being Ryan Seacrest.” 

“You think you should get paid just for being Louis?” Harry asks. Louis shrugs.

“I mean, it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.” He says. 

Ryan Seacrest announces that it is time for the countdown to begin. Downstairs, Harry can hear his uncle and his coworkers counting down from 30. Harry and Louis join in.

“28, 27, 26, 25, 24, 23.” Louis grabs hold of Harry’s hand and pulls him over to the desk. He pours them both a cup of Sprite, and hands one of them to Harry. “15, 14, 13 ,12, 11, 10, 9, 8.” Harry giggles with excitement. Louis smiles fondly at him, then looks at the TV. “5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Happy New Year!” They cheer. They clink their cups together and Louis leans forward and gives Harry a kiss.

Harry hears fireworks outside. He sets his cup down on the desk and runs to the window. Louis follows. He throws the window open, and climbs outside, onto the ledge beneath it. Louis sits down next to him. They let their legs dangle off the edge. 

Several fireworks go off, from a house down the street. They sit, watching the fireworks, until around 1, when the fireworks stop. Louis yawns, and starts to climb back into Harry’s room, but Harry stops him. 

“What?” Louis asks, sitting back down.

“We’re kind of on a roof.” Harry states. Louis nods.

“Yeah, and?” He asks.

“And we’re watching fireworks.” Harry says. Louis figures it out a second later. He smiles and gives Harry a hug. 

“Lets go cross it off the list, then.” He says, climbing back into the room. Harry climbs in after him, and closes the window. Louis grabs the paper, and crosses it off the list. 

“One down.” Harry says. Louis is about to say something, when they hear a knock at the door. They both run to Harry’s bed, and throw the covers over them a second before Harry’s uncle to walk in. 

“They didn’t clean up their food.” He mutters. Harry squeezes his eyes shut.

“Well, they weren’t allowed to come downstairs.” Lou says. Harry moves his head so that his mouth is covered by the blanket, and smiles. He can hear her gathering the tray and the food off of the desk. His uncle mutter something else, and then they leave. 

“That was a close one.” Harry says, sitting up. Louis doesn’t respond. Harry looks down, and sees that he is asleep. “Goodnight Louis.” He whispers, cuddling up next to him, and closing his eyes. He’s fast asleep 10 minutes later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and let me know what you think! This chapter is mostly just a filler, the next ones will be more exciting!


	15. Truth or Dare

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ive been waiting for write this chapter for 3 weeks! I hope you guys like it!

A month goes by. 

The day before Harry’s birthday, Lou takes him, Louis, Niall, Liam, and Zayn to the amusement park. Harry is afraid of rollercoasters, so Louis holds his hand on every single one, because that’s the only way he’ll go on them. 

“What ride do you want to go on, Harry?” Louis asks, after their 5th or 6th rollercoaster. 

“Yeah, this is your birthday party, after all.” Niall says, rocking back and forth on his heels, anxious to go on another ride. 

Harry thinks about it for a couple seconds before answering, “The teacups!” He says, excitedly. Niall’s face drops, disappointed with Harry’s answer. 

“Fine.” He mumbles. They walk over to the teacups and get in line. Lou tells them that the spinning makes her sick, and that she’ll sit this one out. Harry jumps around with excitement. 

“The teacups are my favorite.” He says, beaming. Louis smiles fondly at him, which doesn’t go unnoticed by Zayn. He taps Liam on the shoulder, trying to get his attention, but by the time Liam looks over, Louis has gone back to looking at the teacups. 

“What?” Liam asks. Louis glances over at them. Zayn shakes his head.

“Nothin.” He says. Liam gives him a confused look. Zayn mouths ‘I’ll tell you later’ to him. Liam nods. Louis turns back toward Harry and cups his hand around his ear. 

“I think Liam and Zayn have a secret.” He whispers. Harry glances over at Liam and Zayn, who are listening to a story that Niall is telling them. He shrugs his shoulders. 

“They’ll probably tell us a some point.” He whispers back. The line starts to move. Harry reaches back and taps Niall on the shoulder, telling him to move forward. The people in line in front of them start to fill the teacups and by the time they get to the front, there’s only one left. 

“Do you want to wait until there’s more teacups?” The ticket taker asks. Everybody looks at Harry. 

“Is there enough room in one for all of us?” He asks. The ticket taker looks at them, then at the teacup, then back at them. 

“Sure.” He says. “But it would be really squished.” 

“That’s ok.” Harry says, handing him 5 tickets. He opens the gate and the 5 of them run to the teacup. It’s so squished that Niall isnt even sitting on the bench, but half on Zayn’s leg and half on Harry’s. Harry giggles and grabs hold of the wheel in the center of the cup. The ticket taker walks around and takes sure that everybody is seating and ready for the ride to start. He stops at their cup, and laughs when he sees Niall. 

“Make sure he doesn’t fly out.” He says. Niall laughs.   
The ticket taker walks to the control area and starts the ride. The teacups start moving. The rest of the boys grab onto the wheel and start spinning the teacup as fast as they possibly can. Harry smiles so big that his cheeks start hurting. Niall starts laughing uncontrollably halfway through the ride and becomes unable to spin the wheel. Liam starts laughing at him and tries to keep spinning the wheel smoothly, but gives up a minute later. 

Zayn and Louis silently agree to change the direction the teacup is spinning, and when it abruptly stops and starts spinning the other direction, Niall slides off Zayn’s leg and falls head first into Harry’s knee. He continues to laugh, which makes Harry break out into a fit of giggles. 

By the time the ride is over, all five of them are laughing. They climb out of the teacup, almost tripping over each other, and run over to where Lou is waiting for them. She gives them an odd look and rolls her eyes. 

“You boys ready to go home?” She asks. Harry, who is still giggling, nods his head. 

“Can they spend the night?” He asks. Lou sighs and puts her hands on her hips. Harry rocks forward onto his tiptoes and holds his breath. They both knew that Harry’s uncle had just left on a week long business trip and that this time he had no reason or intention of coming home early.

“Harry, do you know how much trouble I could get in if your uncle found out all the stuff I’ve let you do over the past few months.” She says. Harry nods his head. 

“Yeah.” He says. “And if he ever does find out, I’ll put all the blame on myself and tell him that you didn't know anything.” She bites the inside of her cheek and thinks about it some more. “Because it’s my birthday?” Harry adds. 

She sighs again. “Fine.” She says, giving up. The five boys throw their fists in the air. 

“Yes!” They all cheer. Lou chuckles and starts leading them towards the exit. 

“Come on boys.” She says. “We can stop and get some ice cream on our way out.” And that’s reason enough for Niall to move a little faster. He grabs hold of Zayn and Liam and starts pulling them along. Harry and Louis run after them. 

They get to the ice cream place near the exit and start looking at all the flavors. Liam gets chocolate and Zayn gets vanilla and Niall makes fun of their boring choices. 

“They seriously have any flavor imaginable and you two get the two most boring ones.” He says. Liam shrugs. 

“I like chocolate.” He says. Zayn nods his head.

“And I like vanilla.” He adds. Niall rolls his eyes and goes back to looking at the ice cream. Louis walks over to Harry and taps him on the shoulder. 

“Hey Harry.” He says. “How about you get one flavor and I get another and then we can share?” He proposes. Harry smiles and nods.

“That’s a great idea!” He says. Louis smiles and points at the birthday cake ice cream. 

“We should get the birthday cake flavor because its your birthday.” He suggests. 

“Sure.” Harry says. “And lets also get cookie dough because that’s our favorite.” The ice cream man nods and gets them one scoop of birthday cake, which he hands to Harry, and one scoop of cookie dough, which he hands to Louis. They both smile, satisfied with their choices. Niall gets a wild and reckless sherbet scoop and the three of them walk over to Liam and Zayn, who are standing next to a garbage can. Lou gets herself a mint chip ice cream cone, and pays the ice cream man. 

“Alright, boy, try not to get any ice cream on my car.” She says. They promise they won’t and the six of them exit the amusement park. When Lou’s car is in sight, Niall elbows Louis’ side. 

“Hey Louis.” He says. “Wanna race me to the car?” He asks. Louis grins. 

“Ready, set, go!” He yells. The two of them sprint down the parking lot. Liam and Zayn run after them, and Harry walks a little bit faster, not wanting to fall behind. 

Niall gets to the car first and throws his arms in the air. “I won!” He cheers. Louis looks down and starts laughing. Niall follows his gaze and sees that his ice cream had fallen off his cone. He frowns. Liam and Zayn start laughing too. “I still won.” Niall says, trying not to sound too upset. 

Lou unlocks the car and they all climb in. Harry and Louis crawl over the seats and into the ones in the back. Lou sits down in the driver seat and starts the car. She reaches back and hands Zayn, Niall, and Liam some napkins, and they had a few of them to Louis and Harry. 

The ride home is only about 10 minutes. When Lou pulls into the driveway, the boys don’t even wait until the car has come to a completely stop before jumping out. They run up the grass and Harry opens the door with the key that they kept under the mat. 

“Let’s sleep in Louis shed.” Zayn suggests. Niall and Liam nod. 

“Yeah! We worked really hard on it and I want to spend some time in it!” Liam says. Harry and Louis give each other nervous glances. 

“Are you sure?” Louis asks.

“It gets really cold in there at night.” Harry adds. Niall shrugs. 

“Then we can just get more blankets!” He says, jumping up and down around the entryway. Harry laughs. 

“Ok, fine.” He says. The boys cheer and run to the back door. Zayn opens it and they all spill into the backyard. They run across the grass and stop when they get to the shed. Louis takes out the key and unlocks the door. Harry pushes it open and leads them all inside. 

“Aw sweet! You put a TV in here!” Niall says, looking around. Liam and Zayn sit down at the table. 

“This place is so cool.” Zayn says. Niall looks through the box of movies that Harry had set under the TV. He pulls out An Extremely Goofy Movie and gasps. 

“I havent seen this movie in forever!” He says. 

“We should watch it.” Harry suggests. Niall nods his head so much that Harry’s afraid it might fly off. He takes the movie from Niall and pops it into the VCR player. Zayn and Liam turn their chairs so that they face the TV and Niall sits on the floor in front of it. Harry and Louis walk over to Louis’ bed and pull the mattress off. They pull it to the center of the room and sit down on it. Niall crawls over and sits in between them. 

Halfway through the movie, Lou knocks on the door. Harry gets up and opens it. Lou walks in with two pizzas and a stack of plates. She sets them down on the table and leaves. 

“Thank you!” Harry says, running to the door. Lou smiles. 

“Don’t mention it.” She says. “Happy birthday.” 

Harry closes the door behind her. Louis hands him a plate with a slice of pizza on it and the two of them sit back down on the mattress, closer this time, so that Niall can’t sit between them. Niall grumbles when he sees that his spot is taken, but sits down in the free space next to Harry with no argument. 

When the movie is over, Zayn suggests that they play Truth or Dare. Louis claps his hands with excitement and moves off of the mattress and the five of them sit in a circle on the floor in front of the TV. Niall asks to go first. 

“Ok Niall, truth or dare?” Harry asks. Niall licks his lips. 

“Dare.” He says. Harry looks over at Louis.

“What should we dare him to do?” He asks. Louis thinks about it for a few seconds and then whispers into Harry’s ear. Harry smiles. “I dare you to lick Liam’s armpit!” Harry giggles. Niall crinkles his nose. 

“Eww.” He says, crawling over to Liam. Liam lifts up his arm. Niall takes a deep breath, then licks his armpit. Liam shrieks and pulls away. 

“That felt really weird!” He says, laughing. Niall gags for a couple seconds before running his hands over his tongue, trying to make the taste go away. 

“That was gross!” He says, shaking his head. Louis, Niall, and Zayn start laughing. “Zayn, truth or dare?” Niall asks, when the armpit taste is gone. 

“Truth.” Zayn says. 

“Do you like Perrie?” Niall asks. Harry leans forward, waiting for Zayn’s answer. Niall, Liam, and Harry knew there was something doing on between Zayn and Perrie, but Zayn had never said anything about it. 

Zayn blushes and looks down. “Yes.” He mumbles. 

“I knew it!” Liam, Niall, and Harry all say. Zayn’s head shoots back up. 

“How?” He asks, astonished. 

“Uh, because it’s obvious.” Harry says, laughing. Zayn glares at him. 

“Ok then Harry, truth or dare?” He asks. Harry stops laughing. 

“Truth.” He says, looking down and squeezing his eyes closed, hoping it isnt that bad. 

“When was the last time you were kissed?” Zayn asks. Harry’s eyes almost bulge out of his head. He shoots Louis a quick glance, then looks over at Zayn, who is waiting for his answer. 

“Uh..” He says, trying to buy himself some time. He knew very well when the last time he was kissed was, because it was that morning, but he couldn’t tell them that without telling them about him and Louis. 

“You can tell the truth, Harry.” Louis whispers. Zayn’s eyes flicker over to Louis, and Harry can tell that he had heard him. Niall and Liam, however, seem to have no idea. 

“This morning.” Harry says. Niall’s jaw drops. 

“Oh no way!” He says. “Was it Cher?” He asks, crossing his legs and leaning forward. Harry shakes his head. “Oh.” Niall says, a little less excited. “Then who was it?” 

“I only had to tell one truth and I already told it.” Harry says, crossing his arms. 

“Oh it was Cher!” Niall yells, throwing his head back. Louis glares down at his hands. 

“No it wasn’t. It was me.” He snaps. All four boys turn their heads and look at him. Harry turns his so fast, that it actually hurts his neck. Louis looks up. “It was me.” He says again. Niall’s eyes flickers back and forth from Louis to Harry. 

“What?” He asks, almost unable to form words. 

“It was him.” Harry says, blushing. 

“So, are you two like a thing now?” Liam asks. Louis and Harry both nod. Zayn, Niall, and Liam all nods their heads once in response. 

They don’t talk for a few minutes. Louis and Harry try to crawl as far away from each other as they possibly can without making it too obvious. Harry looks down at his hands and regrets inviting them over. 

“Ok.” Zayn says, breaking the silence. Harry lifts his head up.

“Ok?” He asks, slightly confused. 

“Ok.” Liam and Niall agree. Louis smiles and crawls back into the circle. Harry grins so big, he gets embarrassed and puts his head in his hands so the others cant see. He calms down after a minutes and moves his hands away from his face. 

“Liam, truth or dare?” He asks, trying not to let the smile creep back up onto his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and please let me know what you think!


	16. Penguins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I usually update on Fridays, but I went on vacation this weekend and couldn't. My mom started talking about fanfiction in the car and it was really awkward because I was writing this while she was talking. 
> 
> Also, say goodbye to 8 and 10 year old Harry and Louis! They will be a few years older in the next couple of chapters, but just as cute, I promise! I'm sad this this only has a few more chapters left, I'm really going to miss writing it when it's all finished. 
> 
> Anyway, enjoy!

Niall’s parents take them to the museum the next day. For Harry’s birthday, Niall got him 5 tickets to a special sleepover in the aquarium that the museum organizes once a year. Harry, Liam, Zayn, and Niall had wanted to go the year before, but Harry had gotten the flu and they all decided it wouldn’t be as fun without him. 

They get picked up around 7. Lou makes sure they all have everything they need packed, because it’s a kids only event and no one will be able to help them if they realize at 2 in the morning that they forgot to pack their toothbrushes or pajama pants. Harry assures her that they have everything, and she lets them go. 

“Who’s this?” Niall’s mom asks as they’re climbing into the car. Niall follows her eyes and sees that she’s looking at Louis. 

“Oh!” He says, jumping out of his seat and running over to Louis, who hadn’t gotten into the car yet. “This is Harry’s friend Louis, the one I was telling you about.” He says, presenting Louis to his mother. She smiles. 

“It’s very nice to meet you, Louis.” She says. Niall hops back into the car and sits himself back down between Liam and Zayn, in the back row. Harry climbs in next and sits in the middle row. Louis sits down next to him. 

“It’s nice to meet you too, Mrs. Horan.” Louis says, extending his hand out. She smiles and shakes it. 

“Very polite. Niall could learn a thing or two from you.” She says. Niall gasps. 

“Hey!” He says. Liam and Zayn giggle. 

“It’s true.” His mother says. Niall crosses his arms and pouts the whole way there. Louis and Harry rest their hands on the seats, brushing their fingers together every once in a while. When they’re about two thirds of the way to the museum, Louis decides just to hook their pinkies together, and they stay like that for the rest of the car ride. 

Zayn notices, from the backseat, and nudges Niall, who drops the pouty face for a second to smile fondly at them. He elbows Liam, and points at Harry and Louis. Liam leans forward and looks over the seat and down at their hands. 

“What are you boys so interested in?” Niall’s mom asks, looking in the rearview mirror. Liam sits back in his seat.

“Nothing.” He says.

“We’re playing I Spy.” Zayn adds. Niall and Liam nod in agreement.

“I wanna play.” Harry says, spinning his body around so that he can look at them. Louis spins around too. 

Niall giggles and throws his hand in front of his mouth. Harry gives him a confused look. Niall pretends to cough and then moves his hand away. 

"Sure, you can play." He says. "I spy something brown." 

The four other boys start looking around the car. Niall's mom smiles and looks away from the mirror. Louis looks at Harry's head and smiles. 

"Hey!" He says. "Is it Harry's hair?" Niall grins and nods his head. 

"Yup!" He says. "Your turn." Louis starts looking around the car. Niall's mom clears her throat. 

"Sorry to interrupt boys." She says. "But we're there." 

The boys throw off their seatbelts, grab their bags, and jump out of the car. They run to the front door of the museum and wait for Niall's mom to catch up with them. She shows the man at the door five tickets, and says goodbye to them. 

"Make sure you are with a buddy the entire time." She says. The boys nod. "Ok put your hand on the head of the person you're going to be partners with." 

Louis and Harry immediately put their hands on each other's heads. They giggle and try to hold back blushes. Louis ruffles Harry's hair. 

Liam, Niall, and Zayn try and figure out how they can pair up. Niall gives up and puts one hand on Liam's head and the other on Zayn's. 

"Good." She says, clapping her hands together. "Have fun boys." She says, giving Niall a peck on the cheek. They wave goodbye, and she walks back to her car. 

When she is out of sight, they turn and head into the museum. A lady in a white top and blue skirt walks up to them. She has white teeth, blonde hair, and I name tag that says 'Julie'. 

"Hello boys." She says. "I assume you're here for the sleepover?" She asks. They nod. She smiles. "Great! The activities don't start for another hour, so until then you guys can look around the museum. I can take your bags." She says, reaching out for them. Harry, Niall, Zayn, and Liam hand her their bags. Louis hesitates. 

"Where are you gonna put them?" He asks, clutching his bag to his chest. 

"The aquarium. That's where everybody will be sleeping." She answers. Louis hesitates for another second, before handing it to her. 

"Make sure you keep it next to this one." He says, tapping Harry's blue backpack. She smiles and nods. 

Harry starts to tug on the sleeve of Louis' jacket. "Come on, Lou." He says. Louis turns his head to see the others had already ran to the dinosaur exhibit. He looks back to Julie, who gives him an encouraging nod, then runs after the others. 

"Took you long enough." Niall teases, seeing Harry and Louis run into the room. 

Harry glares at him. "I was waiting for Louis." He says. Niall glares back. Their glaring turns into a staring contest. Harry's eyes begin to water from being open for so long. He lets out a whine in defeat and closes his eyes. Niall throws his fists in the air. 

"Victory!" He cheers. Louis giggles. 

"Hey guys come look at this!" Zayn calls from the other end of the room. They jog over to his and look up at the T-Rex standing before them. 

"Awesome!" Liam says, in awe. Harry tilts his head up and tries to look at all of it. When his neck starts to hurt, he throws his head down and looks at Louis. 

"Hey Louis?" He asks. Louis turns and looks at him. "What kind of dinosaur do you think Id be?" Louis tilts his head to the side and thinks. 

"The one with the long neck." He answers. 

"I have a long neck?" Harry asks, sounding a bit insulted. Louis laughs. 

"No silly! It's cause you are really tall!" He says. Harry smiles. 

They continue to look at the dinosaurs for another 10 minutes. When they're done, they split up. Niall, Liam, and Zayn head to the trains exhibit, and Louis and Harry go look at the art. 

They study each piece of artwork thoughtfully. Harry more than Louis. Louis gets bored a few minutes in and starts making up bizarre interpretations of every painting. 

"This one." He says, pointing at a painting of a vase with white flowers in it. "Is a metaphor for having a dark past that makes one unable to continue to grow." Harry giggles and shakes his head. 

"How'd you come up with that?" He asks, looking at the painting. Louis clears his throat and points at the vase. 

"See how the vase is black?" He asks. Harry nods. "The black represents the dark past and since the flowers are in it and not on the ground, they are unable to grow. The flowers are white to show pureness and innocence." He finishes, putting his hand down. Harry's eyes go wide. 

"Ohhh." He says. "I get it now." Louis smiles and nods, proud of himself. 

Harry looks around the art exhibit and sees that they are the only two in it. He takes a deep breath, then sneaks his hand over to Louis' and laces their fingers together. Louis pulls away. 

"Nah ah ah, Harry." He says, shoving his hands in the pockets of his jacket. "The signs say I can't touch the works of art." Harry rolls his eyes and tries not to blush. He fails. 

They continue to look at the art for another few minutes. Harry's about to suggest that they go meet up with the others, when there's an announcement over the intercom. 

"Attention boys and girls. The museum is closing and the sleepover is about to start. Please come to the aquarium, and let's have a good night!" 

They leave the art exhibit and walk to the aquarium. When they get there, they find the others waiting for them.

"We're setting up places to sleep." Niall says, handing Louis and Harry their backpacks. Louis pulls his blanket and pillow out of his and sets them up. Harry unclips his sleeping bag off his backpack and rolls it out next to Louis' blanket.

They are told to get into groups of five or six. The boys all grab each other's wrists. Julie tells them that they are going on a scavenger hunt. Harry smiles and hops up and down. She grins at him and hands him a piece of paper. 

"This is your first clue." She says. "It will lead you to your next one. The group who finishes the scavenger hunt first wins!" 

She walks away and goes over to a group of six girls their clue. Not wanting to waste any time, Harry opens the paper up and reads the clue. 

"Welcome to the 14th annual scavenger hunt! This clue isn't that hard, so jusT RElaX and have fun!" He says, looking at the note carefully. "The T, R, E, and X are all capitalized." 

"The T-Rex!" Zayn says. Harry tucks the paper into his pocket, and they run to the dinosaur room. Zayn runs ahead of them and gets to the T-Rex first. Taped underneath the plaque with its name and a little blurb about it, is a tan envelope. Zayn peals it off the wall and opens it. He pulls the paper out and reads it to them. 

"All it says is 50 and 13." He says, confused. 

"What does that mean?" Niall asks, biting down on his bottom lip. Zayn shrugs.

"Well, there are 50 states?" Liam suggests. Harry nods. 

"But how does the 13 fit in?" He asks. 

"Like Friday the 13th?" Niall thinks aloud. Louis shakes his head. 

"No I think Liam might be right about it being a 50 states thing. Aren't there 13 stripes on the flag?" He says. Harry's eyes light up and nods his head. 

"Yeah!" He says, jumping up and down. "And there's a giant flag in the entrance of the museum." He says, running out of the room. The other boys follow. 

He runs through the museum and skids to a stop when he sees the American flag. His heart speeds up a little when he sees an envelope tapped to the wall next to it. Louis walks over to it and pulls it off the wall. He takes the paper out and read it. 

"Divide the number of states by 2." He begins. 

"25!" Liam shouts excitedly. Louis chuckles and continues reading. 

"And add some sense, then you can eat." He finishes. "What the heck does that mean?" He asks. 

Niall gasps and jumps around. "It's at the snack bar." He says. "With the cookies." He adds, grabbing Harry's wrist and pulling him into the next room, where there is a snack bar. 

He runs up to the cookies and looks around, not seeing an envelope. He sighs and turns around to face the boys. "I can't find it." He says sadly. 

"Why did you think it would be with the cookies?" Zayn asks, curious. 

"The cookies cost 25 cents." Niall tells them. "I wanted one earlier but only had two nickels." 

"Ohhh." The others say in unison. Niall sighs again. 

"But look at how good they look." He says, pulling one off the self. Behind it, is a envelope. Niall gets so excited, he drops the cookie. "Look!" He sheiks, grabbing the envelope and tearing it open. 

"Your last clue, can be found at the base of this vase." He reads. He knits his eyebrows together. "Is there a vase exhibit here?" He asks. Harry giggles and shakes his head. 

"No." He says. He turns to Louis. "What about that painting of the vase of flowers. The one you were telling me about earlier?" He says. 

"We can look." Louis says, turning around and leading the boys to the art exhibit. Harry almost trips, when he sees a envelope taped to the base of the vase. He grabs Louis' hand and drags him over to the painting. He rips the envelope opening, not bothering to peal it off the painting. He pulls out a blue piece of paper. 

"Congratulations!" He reads. "You're done! Please return to the aquarium." 

The sprint back to the aquarium, almost falling and knocking each other over in the process. Liam throws the door of the aquarium open, and the all cram through the door at once. 

To their surprise, they're the first ones done. Julie smiles and jogs over to them. She hands each of them a small plastic trophy. 

"You won!" She says! The boys all throw their fists in air with victory. "We have to wait for all the teams to be done, then we can move on to the next activity." She tells them. They nod and walk over to the corner of the aquarium, where all their stuff is set up. 

"Since it looks like we are going to be here for a while." Louis says to Harry, reaching into his bag. "I want to give you your birthday present." Harry's eyes widen, and he nods. Louis smiles and pulls a small box out of his bag. He hands it to Harry. 

Harry tears the wrapping paper off of it and carefully opens the box. Inside, is a silver bracelet with a penguin charm dangling off of it. 

"I love penguins!" Harry exclaims. Louis grins. 

"I have one too." He says, pulling the sleeve of his jacket up and revealing another penguin bracelet wrapped around his wrist. 

"Cool!" Harry says, handing Louis his bracelet and holding out his wrist, asking him to put it on him. "Now we match." 

Louis nods and uses his finder nails to open the clasp. He takes the other end of the bracelet and loops it into the clasp. Harry pulls his wrist any and shakes it, watching the penguin bounce around. 

"Do you wanna know why I chose penguins?" Louis asks. 

"Cause penguins are cool?" Harry guesses. Louis laughs. 

"That, and the most special thing about penguins is that they mate for life." Louis says. Harry tilts his head to the side. 

"What does that mean?" He asks. 

"Well, penguins find one other penguin, and they fall in love, and they stay together forever. They never marry or date any other penguins. They're together for life." He explains. 

Harry blushes and looks down at his bracelet. "And they don't love any other penguins?" He asks. Louis nods. "Can I be your penguin?" He asks, his cheeks growing even redder. 

"You already are." Louis answers. "That's why I got you the bracelet." 

Harry plays with his bracelet for another minute, before leaping off his sleeping bag and into a hug with Louis. He shoves his face into his neck and gives his shoulder a quick kiss, not wanting anyone else to see. "Thank you." He whispers. 

"You're welcome." Louis whispers back. 

They pull apart when they see another team walk into the aquarium. After that, the teams start to pour in. In only 15 minutes, everyone is back. 

Julie announces that it's time for the three legged race, and to pick two people from each group to participate. Their group votes for Harry and Louis to be the two. 

They walk together over to the starting line. Another lady with a white top and a blue skirt hands them a yellow scarf. She tells them to tie their legs together. 

Louis kneels down and wraps the scarf around his left leg and Harry's right. When he's sure that it's tight enough, he stands back up. Harry loops their arms together. 

The lady counts down from 10, and everybody start walking. Niall, Zayn, and Liam cheer them on from the sidelines. 

"One, two, one, two." They say to each other, trying to walk at a steady pace. 

The team next to them tries to walk a little bit faster, and ends up falling over, almost knocking Louis over. Harry grabs his shoulder, trying to keep him from falling. 

They end up winning. Niall says it's because they're pretty much the same person. Louis rolls his eyes and Harry blushes, but neither of them argue. 

Liam and Zayn come in second during the wheelbarrow race. Niall and Zayn come in last during the egg toss, when Niall decides to take 3 steps back every time he catches the egg, instead of one. 

Harry wins Simon says and Louis comes in last. Zayn almost beats Niall during the pie eating contest, which shocks everybody. The night slowly comes to a close and one by one, people start going to bed. When half of the group is up, Julie tells them that it's time for everybody to go to sleep. 

The boys walk sluggishly back to their corner and crawl under their blankets. Louis small blanket ends up being too short for him, so he curls up into a ball and tries to keep himself warm. 

"Wanna crawl into my sleeping bag?" Harry whispers. Louis nods and quickly gets up. Harry rolls to one side of his sleeping bag, and let's Louis squeeze in next to him. "You're freezing." He states. 

"You're warm." Louis mumbles. Harry rolls onto his stomach and looks at glass in front of him. A family of fish swim over and stare back at him. 

"Hey Louis look." Harry says, shaking Louis awake.

"What?" Louis asks, rolling over. Harry points at the fish. 

"They like me." He says, watching as the fish follow his finger around. Louis smiles and presses his nose to the glass. The fish swim over and look as if they're kissing the glass. Harry makes a fishy face at them, and starts giggling. Louis makes a fishy face too. 

The fish get confused, and swim away, leaving the two of them making fishy faces alone. They grow tired after about a minute and snuggle back down into Harry's sleeping bag. 

"Did you have a nice birthday?" Louis whispers. Harry nods.

"I had the best birthday ever!" He says, trying to keep his voice quiet. Louis smiles. 

"I'm glad." He says, snuggling up next to him. 

"Hey Louis?" Harry says. Louis grunts. "You're still cold." He states. 

"Sorry about that." Harry can barely understand. 

"You know what else is cold?" Harry asks, pulling his arm out of his sleeping bag and looking at his bracelet. "Penguins, penguins are cold."

He looks over and sees that Louis is asleep. Harry smiles down at him and kisses him on the forehead. Then, he pulls the sleeping bag over his head, trying to keep the warmth in, and falls asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and please let me know what you think!


	17. Still

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry there was no update last week! 
> 
> I can't believe there's only three more chapters left. I'll miss these boys when it's all over. 
> 
> I wrote this on my iPod so I'm sorry in advance for any mistakes.

A few months go by. School gets out in June, so Harry and Louis spend the summer together. Lou enrolls Louis into Harry's school in the fall. 

The next few years go by smoothly. Since Louis missed a year and a half of school, he is put into the same year as Harry, Liam, Niall, and Zayn. 

Two years after Zayn had admitted to the boys that he liked Perrie. Perrie tells her friends that she likes Zayn. 

Jade, who has a crush on Harry, tells him. Harry runs to the other end of the classroom, where Louis is sitting. He leans forward and whispers into Louis' ear. 

"Perrie told Jade that she likes Zayn." He says. Louis grins and gets up. He grabs Harry's arm and they run over to Niall. Niall gasps when Louis tells him. 

"She did?" He asks. Harry and Louis nod. He jumps up from his desk and looks around the classroom. He sees Liam over by the drinking fountain, talking to Sophia. "Liam!" He calls. Liam waves his hand at Niall, trying to tell him that now is not the time. "Liam it's important." Niall says. 

Liam sighs and says goodbye to Sophia. He walks over to them and sits down in the desk next to Niall's. "What?" He asks. 

"Jade told Harry that Perrie told her that she likes Zayn." Louis whispers. Liam's eyes widen. 

"Does Zayn know?" Liam asks. Harry shakes his head. "Should we tell him?" 

"Yeah." Niall says, not waiting for the others to answer. He gets up and goes to Zayn, who had been drawing on the white board. He grabs him by the arm and drags him back over to the boys. 

"What?" He asks, sounding annoyed. 

"We have a secret." Liam says. Harry nods.

"Guess who likes you." He says. Zayn shrugs his shoulders. 

"Niall?" He jokes. Niall smacks him on the arm. 

"No!" He says, standing up from his seat and whispering into his ear. "Perrie." He says. Zayn shakes his head. 

"Very funny." He says, turning to walk back to the white board. 

"It's true!" Harry says. "Jade told me." Zayn shakes his head again. 

"You guys are pathetic." He says, walking away. 

By the end of the day, Zayn and Perrie are dating. 

Harry goes through puberty four years later. His legs and torso get longer, to the point where he can no longer fit in his bed, without his feet hanging over the edge of it. 

His face loses it's roundness and his hair becomes long and curly. He grows to be bigger than all the other boys, and they find it hard to believe that he's the youngest one in the group. 

Louis doesn't like being smaller than him, so he stands on his toes every chance he gets, to try and make them the same height. It becomes harder the more Harry grows. 

When Louis turns 18, he gets a job at Nordstrom. His hours are terrible and his coworkers are rude but it's a job and it pays better than any of the other places that hire 18 year olds. 

In the middle of their junior year, a couple of boys on Louis' soccer team catch them kissing in the locker room. Louis begs them not to tell but within the week, the whole school knows. 

"We should tell my uncle." Harry says, Friday after school. "He's friends with tons of parents and he's going to find out at some point." Louis bites his lip and looks down. He thinks about it for a minute before lifting his head up and looking at Harry. 

"It's up to you. You're the one who's going to deal with him if he's mad. I'll try and stay as long as I can but he'll probably throw me out." He says. Harry nods. 

"Yeah I know. I've been thinking about this for a long time." He admits. "I'm tired of hiding and sneaking around." 

He takes a deep breath and stands up from his bed. Trying to walk as steadily as I can, he makes his way to the door. Louis gets up and follows him. 

They walk together through the hallway and down the stairs. Harry sees his uncle sitting on a chair in the living room, reading a newspaper. 

"Uncle?" He says, walking over. Louis can feel his heart beating in his chest. It feels like a drum, pounding on his insides. He tries to ignore it and follows Harry. 

"Yes?" His uncle says, keeping his eyes on the newspaper. Harry takes another deep breath. 

"Louis and I are dating." He says, all in one exhale. Louis hears a plate drop in the kitchen. Lou probably overheard the conversation and lost her grip. Harry glances over to the kitchen door, then back at his uncle. 

"How long?" His uncle says, putting the newspaper down.

"What?" Harry asks. 

"HOW LONG?" His uncle screams, slamming his hand down on the coffee table. Louis jumps back a little. He feels a shiver run through his body. 

Harry, stands motionless. His face is frozen, probably in fear, Louis thinks. He reaches out to grab Harry's arm and pull him back, but Harry's uncle stops him. He grabs hold of Louis' wrist and squeezes it so hard that Louis is almost positive the blood stopped going to his hand. 

"Don't touch him." He says through his teeth. Louis pulls his arm away. 

"8 years." Harry whispers. His uncle turns his attention back towards Harry. Louis can feel sweat starting to form on his hairline. 

"8 years?" He asks, grabbing Harry by the collar of his shirt and pulling him closer to him and farther away from Louis. Harry squeezes his eyes closed, expecting to be hit at any moment. Instead, his uncle picks him up and throws him onto the floor. "Get out." He says, almost sounding calm. 

Louis reaches out to Harry and helps him up. "You're kicking me out?" Harry asks, his eyes starting to fill with water. His uncle nods. 

"You have 10 minutes to pack up what you need and then I never want to see you here again." He says. 

Louis grabs Harry's hand and starts pulling him upstairs. When they get to Harry's bedroom, Louis pulls a suitcase of out the closet and starts throwing clothes into it. He reaches under Harry's bed and pulls out the box filled with all the money he had earned while working at Nordstrom. 

He grabs Harry's wallet off his dresser and stuffs it into his pocket. He throws a few more things into the suitcase before closing it and zipping it shut. 

"Come on, Harry." He says, grabbing Harry's hand and pulling him out of his room. When they get to the bottom of the staircase. Lou walks out of the kitchen and hands them a bag. Louis opens it and finds most of the personal belongings that he kept in the shed. They both hug her goodbye. 

"Let me know if you need anything." She whispers into Harry's ear. He nods and the both of them try not to cry. 

Louis opens the front door, and they leave. He throws all their stuff into the black Nissan that he had gotten for his birthday only a few weeks before. 

"Do you have the keys?" Louis asks, getting into the drivers seat. Harry nods and pulls the keys out of his pockets. Louis pulls the house key off his key ring and tosses it out the window. He sticks the car key into the ignition and starts the car. 

Harry pulls his seat belt across his chest and inserts it into the buckle. He leans forward and turns on the radio. Don't Stop Believing fills the silent car. How ironic. 

Louis sighs in frustration and throws his seatbelt on. He pushes down on the gas petal as hard as he can and drives down the street. 

His knuckles turn white from his firm grasp on the steering wheel. Harry puts his hand on Louis' leg and squeezes it lightly. 

"You can slow down Louis. I know you're mad but killing us isn't going to help anything." He says. 

Louis laughs bitterly. He pulls over to the side of the road and turns the car off. "What are we gonna do?" He asks, resting his forehead on the steering wheel. Harry shakes his head. 

"I don't know." He whispers.

They sit without talking for a few minutes. Both trying to absorb the last few days. 

"There's a pretty cheap hotel not too far from here." Louis says. "We will stay there for a few days until we figure everything out." He says, turning the car back on. Harry nods. 

Ten minutes later, they pull into the parking lot of the Summerwill hotel. They get out and walk into the lobby. 

"What can I do for you boys today?" The lady at the desk asks. 

"What's your cheapest room?" Louis asks. She types a few things in on the computer before answering. 

"We have a one room one bed available for $49 a night." She answers. "And if you stay here for a week it will be $200 total." She adds. Louis looks to Harry. 

"That ok?" He asks, pulling Harry's wallet out of his pocket. Harry nods. "We'll stay." He says, setting five ten dollar bills on the desk. 

The lady scoops it up and gives them a one back. "Do you have a credit card we can put on file?" She asks. They shake their heads. She purses her lips and pulls out a clipboard from under the counter. "Please sign your first and last name here." She says, handing Louis a pen. Louis quickly signs his name and she gives him a key to their room. They thank her and walk back to their car. 

They take the suitcase and the bag out and bring them up to their room. Louis slides the card into the door and waits for the light to turn green. When it does, he turns the handle and they walk inside. Harry drops their backs in the corner and throws himself onto the bed. 

"So what's the plan?" Louis asks. Harry shakes his head. 

"No plan tonight." He says. "Just sleep." 

Louis chuckles and grabs the spare blanket and pillow out of the closet. "Ok. We can plan tomorrow." He says, dropping them onto the floor. Harry sits up from the bed. 

"What are you doing?" He asks, as Louis crawls under the blanket. "You're not sleeping on the floor. None of that. Get up here." He instructs, moving over so that there's room for the both of them. 

Louis gets up from the floor and crawls in next to Harry. Harry rolls over so that they can face each other. "I love you." He whispers. Louis giggles. 

"Still?" He asks. Harry raises an eyebrow. 

"What do you mean still?" He asks. 

"You're homeless because of me, I got you kicked out of your house, and you still love me?" Louis says. 

"I guess I'm just crazy." Harry says, kissing Louis on the nose. Louis blushes and moves closer to him. 

"I guess I love you too." He says. 

"Still?" Harry asks, smiling. Louis nods. 

"Still." He repeats.

Harry giggles. "Maybe 'still' can be our 'always'." He says. Louis rolls his eyes. 

"Such a sap." He mumbles. Harry grins. 

"You love it." He insists.

"I do." Louis admits.

Harry moves his hand around under the covers until he finds Louis'. He laces their fingers together and rests his head on Louis' chest. 

"Are we gonna buy a big house, like the one in Life?" Harry asks. Louis chuckles. 

"I thought we weren't making a plan tonight?" He asks. Harry shakes his head. 

"I'm not making a plan, I'm just thinking about our options." Harry states. 

"Sure." Louis laughs. Harry lifts his head up and looks Louis in the eyes. 

"I'm serious." He says. "This could be a good thing. I'm finally out of that house. We both have tons of money from summer jobs and from what my parents left me. We can totally afford a small house. I can drop out of school and get a job full time." Louis shakes his head. 

"You're not dropping out of school." Louis says. "If anyone's going to drop out of school, it would be me." Harry's about to argue when Louis puts a finger up to his lips. "I've been thinking about getting a house for a while now. Zayns been considering moving out of his parents house too. If the three of us all chip in for rent we might be ok." He says. 

Harry lays his head back down on Louis' chest. "That'd be fun. The three of us living together." He says. 

"We'd annoy Zayn to no end." Louis states. Harry laughs. 

"That's the fun part." He says. Louis smiles. They sit quietly for a couple minutes. Louis just when thinks Harry had fallen asleep, Harry whispers. "Kill, marry, screw. Me, Zayn, and Liam." Louis smirks.

"Kill Liam, marry you, screw Zayn." He says. 

"That was quick." 

"Well I mean I'm going to marry you no matter who the other two people are. And I'm going to screw Zayn almost no matter who the other people are, so it was pretty easy." Louis says. 

"Poor Liam. Never had a chance." Harry whispers. Louis giggles. 

"Niall, Zayn, and Liam." Louis says. Harry thinks about it for a few seconds. 

"Marry Niall, screw Zayn, and kill Liam." He says. 

"Poor Liam." Louis says. 

"Poor Liam." Harry agrees. 

They keep playing until their eyes start stinging from staying up. Even then, they play for a few more minutes while keeping their eyes shut. 

"I'm too tired to play." Louis says, after probably 50 rounds. 

"Same." Harry says, yawning. "Goodnight." 

"Goodnight." Louis says back. "I love you." He adds. 

"Still." 

"Still."


	18. In My Life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I want to catch up since I missed a post a few weeks ago and I still want this story to be done before my birthday weekend. I made a schedule for myself, but I thought I'd share it with you guys! The next chapter will be posted on 23rd most likely. The last one will be posted on the 2nd. (It's not much of a schedule but I am very unorganized and if I didnt have it who knows what would happen with this story.)
> 
> The song mentioned in this is called In My Life by the Beatles. Ed did a wonderful cover of it a few weeks ago and you guys should check out both versions because they are both great. 
> 
> Thanks for reading!

Louis wakes up the next morning with his face shoved deep into Harry's curls. He smiles and rolls over. Very carefully, he gets off the bed, trying not to wake Harry up. 

He walks over to the door and opens it slowly, trying to limit the creaking. He snatches a key off the table and let's the door close behind him. The hall is cold and bright and he starts to regret not bringing a jacket with him. 

He makes his way down the hall and into the elevator. He presses the lobby button and watches as the door shutter shut. 

The numbers at the top of the elevator go from 3, to 2, to G, and then the doors open. Louis steps out and walks over to the coffee station that he had seen the night before. He pours to cups of coffee and presses lids on them. He grabs a handful of creamers and sugars and shoves them into the pockets of his pajamas. He grabs the two coffee cups and starts walking back to the elevator. 

"You boys find everything alright?" The lady asks from her spot behind the desk. Louis stops walking and turns to face her. 

"Yeah everything was great." He says. She smiles. 

"Great! How long do you think you will be staying here?" She asks. Louis shrugs.

"It all depends. We want to find a house or apartment to live in that's pretty cheap. We will stay here until we find one." He says. Her face lights up and she starts typing something in on her computer. 

"There's an apartment for sale in my apartment complex." She says. Louis walks over to her. "I can get you a discount because I live there as well." She adds, pulling up the ad and tilting the computer so that Louis can see. "I share one with my boyfriend. The rent sometimes gets a little hard for both of us to pay every month but it's definitely doable." 

Louis looks at the screen. It's a 2 bedroom 2 bath apartment with a kitchen, living room, and fireplace. Two bedrooms is more than he and Harry need, but if Zayn wanted to live with them, it would be perfect. 

"That sounds great." He says. "Could you call them and let them know that I'll be stopping by later today to check it out?" He asks. She nods. 

"Sure." She says. "What's your name?" 

"Louis." He says. 

"I'm Eleanor." 

Louis smiles and thanks her, then goes back up to the room. Harry is awake when he gets back. 

"Hey." Louis says, handing Harry a coffee cup. 

"Thanks." Harry says, moving over on the bed so Louis can sit next to him. 

"So I found us a place to check out." He says, sitting down on the bed and pulling the creamers and sugars out of his pocket. He sets them down on open space between them. Harry picks up a sugar packet, opens it, and dumps it into his coffee. 

"Does it look nice?" He asks, taking a sip. Louis nods. 

"Yeah it does. And the girl who works at the front desk here was nice enough to get us a discount on it." He says. Harry grins. 

"That's great!" He says. "I'll call Zayn and ask if he can come over and we'll discuss it." He leaps of the bed and runs over to the suitcase. He unzips the front compartment and pulls out his phone. "Is it big enough for him to live with us." He asks. Louis nods. 

"If you're ok with him having his own room and us sharing one." He says. Harry laughs and crawls back onto the bed. 

"Of course I'm ok with it." He says, kissing Louis on the nose. Louis blushes. 

Harry scrolls through his contacts until he finds Zayn's name. He clicks call and puts it on speaker phone. The sound of the phone ringing fills the room. Harry turns the volume up as high as it can go. 

"Hello?" Zayn says on the third ring. 

"Hey Zayn! It's Harry and Louis." Harry says excitedly into the phone. Zayn chuckles. 

"I assumed Louis would be with you." He says. "What's up?" He asks. 

"Harry and I had a serious question to ask you, and it's not something we wanted to do on the phone. Can you meet us somewhere?" Louis asks. Zayn hesitates. 

"Actually, I was about to go over to Liam's." He says. Louis glances at Harry. 

"It's really important." Harry says. There's some static on the other side of the phone. "Liam can come too, if you feel bad about canceling." 

"And invite Niall, so he doesn't feel left out." Louis adds. 

"Fine. I'll be at your place in about 10 minutes." He says. 

"Uh. Actually, I kinda got kicked out." Harry mumbles. 

"Where are you guys?" Zayn asks, sounding concerned. 

"The Summerwill hotel." Louis says. Zayn sighs. 

"The next time you guys get thrown out just come over and stay at my house." He says. Louis smiles.

"Love you." He says. Zayn laughs. 

"Yeah, yeah. What room are you in?" He asks. 

"339." Harry answers. 

"Ok I'll pick up Liam and Niall and be there as fast as I can." He says. 

"Thank you. Bye!" Harry says, pressing the end call button on the phone. 

Louis gets up and walks over to the suitcase. He pulls out a couple of shirts and tosses one to Harry. Harry yanks off his pajama shirt and pulls the new one on. Louis does the same. 

Harry gets off the bed and sits next to the suitcases. Louis sits down next to him. 

"Whatchu thinking about?" Harry asks, leaning his head on Louis' shoulder. 

Louis reaches over and grabs Harry's hand. He laces their fingers together and squeezes it. "Nothing." He says. 

Harry shakes his head. "I don't believe you. You have your thinking face on." He says. Louis takes a deep breath. 

"I was just thinking about how glad I am that we aren't going to be homeless." He says. Harry brings up their hands and kisses Louis' knuckle. 

"Can I ask you a question." He asks, using his free hand to make shapes on Louis' arm. 

"Sure." Louis whispers, already knowing what the question is going to be. 

Harry waits a couple of seconds before asking. "Why did your parents lose your house?" He asks. "Why were you homeless before?" He asks. 

Louis closes his eyes and takes another deep breath. "My dad lost his job." He says. "And he didn't tell my mom because he was too embarrassed. He thought he would be able to find another one before too much damage was done. But my mom was a stay at home mom, and he never found a new job, so we lost everything." He says. 

"It was my choice to be homeless." He adds. "Like I told you when we were little, my little sisters were being sent to a home, and I was supposed to go with them. It was my choice to run away, so therefore it was my choice to be homeless." He finishes.

Harry is silent for a while. He's about to say something when there is a knock on the door. The two of them pull themselves off the floor and Harry walks over to the door. He opens it and is greeted with Niall running full speed into him and giving him a hug. 

"He wouldn't stop asking me why you guys were here, so I told him, I hope that's ok." Zayn says, walking into the room. 

"Yeah, that's fine." Harry says, pulling away from Niall. He closes the door and motions for the three of them to sit on the bed. 

He sits down next to Louis and clears his throat. "Louis found us a place to live. He said it's pretty nice and I'm assuming it's also pretty cheap." He says looking at Louis. Louis nods. 

"It's reasonable." He says. 

"We were wondering if you wanted to live with us." Harry says, looking at Zayn. Zayn's eyes widen. He looks at Louis. 

"I know I mentioned wanted to move out of my parents house, but I didn't know it would be this soon." He says, running his fingers on the bed sheets. "I mean, I want to, but it's just very sudden." He adds. Niall leans forward. 

"I want to live with you guys too." He says. "I've been talking to my parents about getting a place by myself, but I would much rather live with you guys." 

Liam nods. "Yeah same with me." He says, looking nervously at Harry and Louis. 

"Is there enough room for all of us to live there?" Harry asks, looking at Louis. 

Louis closes his eyes and thinks about the ad he had seen that morning. "It only had two bedrooms." He says. "Harry and I are gonna share, so that leaves one more for you to share. The living room is pretty big, so we might be able to use part of it as another bedroom." He suggests. Niall smiles. 

"I wouldn't mind having my room in the living room." He says. "I'm out and about most of the time and if I'm in the living room, I won't wake anybody." He adds, rocking back and forth a little. 

Harry smiles at him, then looks at Liam and Zayn. "Would you two mind sharing a room?" He asks. Liam and Zayn look at each other and shake their heads. 

"No, that's fine." Liam says. Zayn nods in agreement. 

Louis smiles and pulls his legs up to his chest. "Harry, can I see your phone?" He asks. Harry nods and pulls his phone out of his pocket and hands it to him. Louis types in Harry's password and pulls up Safari. He googles the name of the apartment complex. He finds the add and places the phone in the middle of the five of them. 

Harry, Liam, Niall, and Zayn all lean forward and look at the phone. Louis scrolls down so that they can see pictures of the apartment. Zayn sits up straight and nods his head. "It looks nice." He says. 

"We should go check it out." Niall says. "I mean, we need to see before we agree to buy it right?" They all agree. 

"So it's settled then." Harry says, jumping off the bed. "Louis and I will pack up and check out, and we'll meet you guys there." He says. The others nod and get off the bed. They say goodbye and walk out of the room. Liam shuts the door behind them. 

Harry walks over to the suitcase and starts throwing in their pajamas. Louis stays on the bed. When Harry is done, he zips up the suitcase and leans it up so that it can stand on its own. 

"Are you coming?" He asks Louis, who hasn't moved. 

"Harry." Louis says, sitting up. 

"Louis?" Harry asks, raising one of his eyebrows. 

A giant smiles forms across Louis' face. He standing up on the bed and begins jumping on it. Harry looks around the room, even more confused. 

"What are you doing?" He asks. Louis jumps to the edge of the bed, and almost falls off. He reaches out to Harry and grabs onto his arm. Harry gets up onto the bed and stands next to Louis. Louis stops jumping. 

"We're going to live together." Louis says. "And we're not going to have to worry about your uncle and everybody at school knows we are together." 

"And?" Harry asks. 

"We're finally free." Louis says. "After years of hiding and pretending we're finally free." 

Harry looks up at him, smiles, and starts jumping on the bed. Louis laughs and begins to jump again. They jump until they get tired. 

Louis tackles Harry and he falls down onto the bed, with Louis laying on top of him. 

"You're pretty." Louis says, looking down at Harry. 

"You're pretty good looking yourself." Harry laughs, sitting up a little and giving Louis a quick peck on the lips. Louis smiles and rolls off of him. 

They climb off the bed and grab the suitcases. Louis leaves the keys on the edge of the bed, and they walk out the door, closing the door behind them. 

Outside their room, they see a couple that were in the room next to them, coming out of their room. The four of them walk quietly to the elevator. 

"Hiya." Louis says, trying to make conversation. The women looks over at him and smiles awkwardly. 

The elevator ride down to the lobby is awkward and silent. Harry tries to keep himself from laughing. 

"What so funny?" Louis asks, when the doors open, and the four of them step out into the lobby. Harry shakes his head and let's a few giggles out. 

After checking out and walking outside, Harry breaks out into a fit of laughter. "What?" Louis whines. 

"Those people thought we were having sex." Harry giggles. Louis looks back into the hotel, where the couple is checking out. 

"No they didn't." Louis says. Harry nods his head. 

"Yes they did. And you made it even more awkward by saying hi." He says. Louis rolls his eyes and gets into Harry's car. He throws the bag and the suitcase into the backseat and buckles his seatbelt. Harry gets in on the drivers side and starts the car. 

"Why on earth would they think that?" Louis asks. Harry giggles some more. 

"Hotel walls are thin and we spent 20 minutes jumping on the bed." Harry states. Realization hits Louis and his cheeks grow red. 

"Should we go back in and apologize?" He asks. Harry shakes his head. 

"No." He laughs, throwing his seatbelt on and driving out of the parking lot. "We're already running late and if we take any longer the boys are gonna think we were having sex too." Louis rolls his eyes again.

Ten minutes later, they pull into the parking lot of the apartment complex. Harry sees Zayn's car, and parks next to it. They hop out and quickly run into the front office.

Zayn, Niall, and Liam sit patiently in the waiting area. "There you guys are." Niall says when he sees Harry and Louis walk into the room. 

"I'll let Nick know they're here." Liam says, standing up from his chair and walking over to the front desk. 

A couple minutes later, he comes back with a man that they assume to be Nick. He takes them to an apartment in the 3rd building. On the way, he shows the pool and exercise room, along with the laundry room and the play ground. When they get to the apartment, he gives Harry the keys and tells them that they can look around for as long as they want. 

"I'll be in the office when you're done." He says, leaving. Harry shoves the key into the keyhole and turns it. He opens the door and they step into the empty apartment. 

"It's big." Niall says, looking around. 

"Let's see how big the bedrooms are." Zayn says, walking over to the two door on the other end of the room. He opens one and steps inside. "This one is pretty small." He says. 

Harry walks over to the other and steps inside. "This one is huge." He yells. 

The others join him in the bedroom. "You and Zayn can have the bigger bedroom." Louis says to Liam. "Since you guys will need two beds. Harry and I can just share one." Harry nods. 

"And Niall you're still ok with sleeping in the living room?" He asks. 

"Yep!" Niall says, without skipping a beat. "And I really like this place." He says. The others nod. 

"Yeah I like it too." Harry says, linking his arm with Louis'.

"So, we're gonna get it?" Louis asks.

The boys wait for someone to speak up and say the don't want to, but no one does. "I guess." Zayn says.

Liam clears his throat. They turn to look at him. "Um, I talked to Nick before Harry and Louis got here. He said that the rent will be around $3,000 a month. Which is about $600 per person. I called my mom and talked to her about it and she said that she will pay for our first two months here." He says. Harry grins and pulls Liam into a hug. Niall joins in too, followed by Louis, then Zayn. 

They hug each other until Liam starts getting crushed, then he pushes them away. 

"Thanks, Li." Harry says. Liam shrugs. 

"Hey I get the apartment too, no need to thank me." He says. "Now my mom is gonna meet me here and we're going to sign some paperwork." 

"I'll come too." Zayn says. "After they're done I'm going to go back home and break the news to my parents. I'll probably be back with all my stuff in a few days." He says. 

"And Zayn was my ride here so I'll go with him." Niall says. 

Harry hands the keys to Liam. Him and Louis walk the three of them out, and shut the door behind them. 

"I think id screw Liam in a game of kill, marry, screw." Harry says. Louis chuckles. 

"I think Id marry him." Louis says. "But I'd still screw Zayn, so I have bad news for you." He adds. Harry's jaw drops. He punches Louis' arm.

"Rude." He says. 

"It's true though." Louis says. 

"Well you didn't have to say it to my face." Harry says, pretending to be upset. 

They walk to the center of the room and sit down on the floor. Louis wraps one of his legs around Harry's and rests his chin on his shoulder. "You know I'm kidding right." He says. "Just cause we outgrew the bracelets doesn't mean you're not my penguin anymore." 

Harry turns to face him. "Penguins are crazy. What if they pick the most idiotic and crazy penguin? They're just stuck with them?" He asks. 

"Yep." Louis says. "Just like you're stuck with me." 

"Stuck isn't the word I would use." Harry whispers. Louis laughs. 

"Sap." He says. Harry smiles and looks down. "Sing to me?" Louis asks. Harry lifts his head back up. 

"Now?" He asks. Louis nods. "But I have to call Lou and ask if she can somehow bring me all my furniture." He says. Louis shakes his head. 

"That can wait until tomorrow. Now, you sing." He says. 

"We're going to sleep on the floor tonight." Harry says. Louis shrugs. 

"I've had it worse." He says. Harry sighs and thinks of a song to sing. 

_"There are places I remember_  
 _All my life though some have changed."_

He begins to sing. Louis smiles and leans his head back on Harry's shoulder. He taps his thigh in time to the song and closes his eyes. 

_"All these places have their moments_  
 _With lovers and friends I still can recall._  
 _Some are dead and some are living in my life I love them all."_

Harry stops singing for a moment, to lay down on the floor. He closes his eyes and curls up next to Louis, then continues to sing. 

_"I will never lose affection. For people and things that went before_  
 _I know I will often stop and think about them_  
 _In my life I love you more"_

He finishes singing. Louis smiles and claps his hands.

"That was beautiful!" He says. Harry blushes. 

"You'd marry me in a game of kill, marry, screw right?" He asks. Louis chuckles. 

"I thought I made that clear." He says. "Of course I would." 

"Just checking." Harry says. 

"I'd marry you in real life too." Louis adds, and Harry blushes more than he ever has before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and please let me know what you think!


	19. Balderdash

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! This is the second to last chapter! I'll do a big ol' thing thanking everybody and being all sentimental in that post. Thanks for reading and I hope you like the chapter!
> 
> Oh! And I have an idea for a oneshot. It should be written within the next couple of weeks. It will be probably around 7 or 8k words and yeah just thought I'd let you guys know! It's called Looking Up.

"Lou?" Harry asks with his phone between his shoulder and his ear. He uses his free hands to help Louis move Liam's dresser into place. 

"What's up, Hun?" Lou says. Zayn walks over and takes Harry's end of the dresser from him. Harry smiles at him and mouths thank you before walking out of Liam and Zayn's bedroom and into the one he shares with Louis. 

He sits down on the floor with his back against the wall. "Can you do me a huge favor?" He asks.

"Sure. What do you need?" She asks with no hesitation. 

Harry brings his legs up to his chest and rests his chin on his knees. "I got an apartment with the boys." He says. "And Louis and I have our own bedroom." 

She lets out of breath of relief. "Oh Harry I'm so happy you were able to find a place." She says. 

"Me too." Harry agrees. "But right now I have no furniture. Is there any way you can bring it here?" 

She thinks about it for a few seconds before answering. "I can get a few mover guys over here and I'll rent a truck. Your uncle won't be home tonight until late so hopefully they'll be gone before he gets back." She says. Harry smiles. 

"Thank you, Lou." He says. 

"No problem." She says. "I'm going to go so I can call them. I'll text you when everything is packed up and you can text me where you are ok?" She asks.

"Sounds good." Harry says, getting up off the floor. "Bye." He adds.

"Bye, Hun." She says, hanging up the phone. Harry shoves his phone into his pocket and joins the others back in the other room. 

Niall sits on top of Zayn's bed as Liam and Zayn try to push it up against the wall. "This would be easier if you weren't sitting on it." Liam says. Niall laughs and doesn't move off the bed. 

"Lou is going to bring over all my stuff." Harry says, walking over to Louis and throwing his arm around his shoulders. Louis wraps his arm around Harry's waist and rests his head on his shoulder. 

"Can I go shopping for living room furniture?" Niall asks, hopping off the bed and running up to them. 

"You want to?" Louis asks. Niall nods his head. "Why?" 

"Cause my mom said that she'd buy me whatever I wanted." He says, bouncing up and down. Harry laughs. 

"Your family has too much money." He giggles. Niall rolls his eyes. 

"You're getting a free couch and television out of it so I don't want to hear you complaining." He says, waving his finger in Harry's face. Harry pushes his hand away.

"Go ahead Niall. Get whatever you want." He says. Niall claps his hands and runs out of the room to call his mom. 

After setting up Liam's bed and Zayn's dresser, they leave Zayn and Liam to organize the rest of their room by themselves. 

They walk into their room and sit down cross legged on the floor. Harry rests his hands on his knees with his palms up. Louis traces the lines on the inside with his finger.

"We should get our palms read." He says. Harry laughs. 

"Add that to the bucket list." He chuckles. Louis nods and spins around. He leans back until his back is flat against the floor. Harry scoots back and lays down too. He rotates his body until his head bumps into Louis'. 

They stare at the ceiling until their vision starts to get blurry. Harry let's his eyes flutter shut. Louis traces the patterns in the ceiling with his eyes. 

A few minutes later, Louis feels breath on his ear. He turns his head and finds Harry fast asleep beside him. He smiles at him, kisses his cheek, then gets up and joins Liam and Zayn in their room. 

"Tired of Harry already?" Zayn asks as Louis walks into the room. Louis shakes his head.

"He fell asleep. We haven't had a full night of sleep in a week. He's probably exhausted." He says. Liam and Zayn glance at each other, then look at Louis.

"Didn't need to know that." Liam says, uncomfortable. Louis' eyes widen.

"N-no!" He stutters. "We have to sleep on the floor and it's not very comfortable." 

"Sure." Zayn says, smiling and turning his attention back to putting clothes away in his closet. Louis groans and throws himself onto Liam's bed. "Goodnight Lou."

"I'm not going to sleep, I'm just resting my eyes." He mumbles into the mattress. 

Within minutes, he's fast asleep. 

Harry wakes up a few hours later when his phone buzzes in his pocket. He sits up and rubs his eyes with the back of his hand. His phone buzzes again. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out his phone. Two missed texts from Lou pop up when he unlocks it. He clicks on her name and it takes him to the messages. 

6:30 from: Lou

Hey kiddo! Your stuff is all packed up! 

6:31 from: Lou 

Can you text me the address? 

Harry types out the address and presses send. He pushes himself off the floor and walk out of the bedroom. Liam and Zayn smiles at him when he walks into the living room.

"Where's Louis?" He asks. Zayn sticks his thumb out in the direction of his bedroom. 

"He crashed on Liam's bed." He answers. Harry peaks into Zayn and Liam's room and see Louis passed out with his face buried into the mattress. 

"Yeah we haven't had much sleep in the last few days." He says. Liam laughs.

"We heard." He says. Harry knits his eyebrows together and gives him a weird look. Liam shakes his head. "Don't worry about it." He says. 

Harry phone buzzes in his pocket. He pulls it out and unlocks it. 

6:34 from: Niall 

I got us a couch!!!!!!

Harry smiles at the screen and clicks his phone off. "I'm going to go wake up Louis." He says, walking into the bedroom. "Louis." He whispers, sitting down on the edge of the bed and shaking Louis' shoulder. 

Louis grumbles and pushes his hand away. Harry laughs and shakes his shoulder again. "Go away." Louis whines. Harry pouts.

"But Louis." He says, throwing himself onto Louis' back. "The sky's awake, so I'm awake. So we have to play." He says. Louis giggles and throws Harry off the bed. 

"Go play by yourself." He says. Harry laughs and climbs back onto the bed. 

"Do you wanna build a snowman?" He asks, lifting one of Louis' eyelids up. Louis smiles and sits up. 

"You're a five year old." He says. Harry shrugs and sits in Louis' lap. 

"You're the one who only wakes up in a good mood if I quote Frozen." Harry says, poking Louis in the cheek. Louis yawns and rests his chin on Harry's shoulder. "Lou will be over in like five minutes with all my stuff." He says. "We'll be sleeping in a nice comfy bed tonight." 

Louis smiles. "Good." He says. "I don't think I can take another night on the floor." 

Harry nods in agreement. "We should play a game tonight." He says. "With the boys. Because it will be the first night with all of us in the house." 

"Sure." Louis says. "Let's play Balderdash." Harry grins and claps his hands. 

"We haven't played that in years!" He says. There's a knock at the door. Harry climbs off Louis' lap and runs into the living room. "That's Lou!" He yells. Louis chuckles and follows him. 

Harry pushes past Liam and Zayn and opens the door. He throws himself at Lou and wraps his arms tightly around her waist. 

"Hey there." She says, messing up his already messy hair. "I missed ya." 

"Missed you too." He mumbles. She smiles and waves at the other boys. Louis joins the hug. 

A minute later, they pull apart. "Which one is your room?" She asks. Louis points at the door farthest away from them. "Alright. Come on in guys." She says. Two men appear behind her with boxes of stuff. Louis leads them to their room and tells them to put the boxes in the corner. 

"We'll go help them bring all the boxes and furniture in." Liam says, grabbing Zayn's arm and pulling him out of the apartment. 

Lou steps inside and looks around. "It's a nice place." She says. Harry grins.

"I like it. And the boys like it." He responds. "Niall's getting living room furniture as we speak. Liam and Zayn are already all set up. Louis and I will be done in a few hours. Everything is coming together." He says. Lou smiles and puts her hands on his shoulders. 

"I'm really happy for you." She says. "You deserve this." Harry smiles and gives her another hug. "Oh!" She says, pulling away. "I have a present for you and Louis." 

"Oh Lou you didn't-." He starts. She cuts him off by running out of the apartment. She returns a second later, pulling a giant box with her. Harry's jaw drops. He runs into the hallway and helps her push it inside. When they're back in the apartment, he steps back and looks at it. 

"You got me a bed?" He asks, looking at the picture of a giant white bed that is plastered onto the front of the box. She nods. 

"It's a queen." She says. "I saw that you only have a twin in your room. I know you and Louis don't mind cuddling and might even prefer it but I just thought maybe-." And she's cut off by Harry tackling her to the ground. "Glad you like it." She laughs. "The mattress is still in the truck." 

Louis walks in and stop when he sees the two of them laying on the floor. "Am I interrupting something?" He jokes. 

"Look Louis." Harry says, getting up off the floor and running over to stand next to him. "Lou got us a bed." Louis claps his hands. 

"I've never been so excited to see a bed in my whole life." He says. 

"Glad it's such a hit." Lou says, standing up and pushing the bed towards. Harry and Louis' room. They run over and help her. 

Over the next two hours, they finish bringing in all the boxes from the truck. Louis and Harry start putting together the bed, which ends up being a lot more frustrating than they had originally thought. Louis insists that they didn't need the directions but Harry reads them anyway without telling him. Louis builds the bed wrong the first time and Harry tried not to laugh. 

Eventually they built it correctly and with the help of Liam and Zayn, they places the mattress on top. To make sure it was sturdy, Louis got up and started jumping on it. Harry joined him and the others rolled their eyes and walked out of the room. 

Niall returned a few minutes later. "I'm back!" He calls, walking into the apartment. "And I brought stuff!" He adds. The boys and Lou walk out of the bedroom and meet him in the living room. 

Louis looks around and then look at Niall. "Where is this stuff you speak of?" He asks. 

"It'll be delivered in about an hour." Niall admits. "I only said I had stuff to make you guys hurry." Louis laughs and shakes his head. 

"Alright boys I'm gonna take off." Lou says, giving Louis and Harry hugs. "It was great seeing you." She adds. 

"Come over whenever you want." Zayn says. 

"I will." She promises. 

They walk her out and talk for a few more minutes by the door. When she leaves, Harry closes the door behind her and joins the others back in the center of the living room. 

The deliverers arrive a little while later. They bring in a couch, a lazy boy (that Niall claimed), a television, a kitchen table, chairs, and an entertainment center. 

"Jesus Niall." Zayn says, looking as the deliverers set up everything. Niall shrugs. 

"My mom and dad had been saving up money for me to get my own place for a long time." He says. "Since I'm sharing this place with you guys, we have tons of money left over." 

The deliverers finish setting up the furniture. Niall thanks and pays them, then they leave. Niall excitedly runs over to his chair and plops himself down on it. Zayn and Liam sit down on the big couch and Harry and Louis sit on the love seat. Harry drapes his legs over Louis' lap and lays his head on the armrest. 

"Do you guys want to play Balderdash?" He asks. Niall nods.

"I haven't played that game since I was like 12." He says. 

"I wouldn't mind playing." Zayn says.

"Same here." Liam adds.

Harry smiles and swings his legs onto the ground. He stands up and runs to his room. He looks in a couple boxes before finding the game. He quickly pulls it out of the box and runs back into the living room. 

"Do you guys remember how to play?" He asks, sitting back down next to Louis. He pulls the pad of papers out of the box and rips off a few sheets. He keeps one and passes the rest to Louis, who takes another and passes it to Liam. Once everyone has a paper, Harry grabs the pens and gives one to everybody. 

"I do." Niall says. 

"I kinda do. Can you remind me though?" Zayn asks. Harry nods.

"Sure." He says. "The person who is it rolls the dice." He takes the dice out of the box and tosses it onto the floor. It lands on a 4. "Then you grab a card." He explains, grabbing a card out of the box. "And you go down to the fourth category, which is movies. I say the title of the movie that it gives me, which is Under The Rainbow. You guys all have to write down a plot for the movie. I will write down the actual plot. When you're done, you pass your paper to me. I will read all the the plots, including the real one, and you guys have to guess which one is the correct one. You get points if you guess the correct answer or if someone else guesses the answer you put." He finishes. 

"Sounds easy enough." Zayn says. 

"What's the plot for Under the Rainbow?" Louis asks. Harry flips the card over and read it. 

"An interesting story that puts forth the theory that all the munchkin actors in the Wizard of Oz were wild and out of control when not working." He says. Louis giggles. 

"Can I go first?" He asks. Harry nods and hands him the dice. He rolls a 4. He picks a card out of the deck and flips it to the title side. "That Sinking Feeling." He reads. The other four begin to write down their plots. Louis flips the card over and writes the real one.

When everyone is done, he collects the cards and shuffles them up. When he feels that they are nice and shuffled, and begins to read them out loud. 

"A small town in Ohio sinks in quicksand and it's up to two young students to find a stop to it." He says. Niall cracks a smile. "Number two: A replica of the Titanic is made and set out to sea, only to find that it has the same outcome as the original." 

"Hey!" Harry says, sitting up. "That's plot of Titanic 2!" Niall starts laughing. 

"You've seen Titanic 2?" He teases. Harry blushes and looks down. 

"It was on Netflix." He says. Niall continues to laugh. 

"Hey now!" Louis says. Niall giggles to a stop. "Number three: a gang of Scottish teenagers steal a warehouse full of sinks." Harry laughs to himself. 

"That ones Niall's." Liam accuses. Niall's jaw drops. 

"No it's not!" He says. "My answer wasn't that ridiculous." 

"Sure." Zayn says. Niall knits his eyebrows together and crosses his arms. 

"Number four: a couple that has been together since first grade finds the troubles that come with marrying young." He says. "And number five: a lone fisherman sets out to sea only to have his ship sink. He then must learn how to survive on an island with no food or fresh water." 

The boys sit and think over all the plots for a minute. 

"I vote for the second one." Zayn says. 

"I vote for the first one." Harry says. 

"Me too." Niall says. 

"And I guess I vote for the last one." Liam mumbles, sounding unsure of his answer. 

"You sure?" Louis asks. Liam waits a couple seconds before nodding. "Ok so the correct answer was: a gang of Scottish teenagers steal a warehouse full of sinks." He says. "You guys all fail." 

"That's a movie?" Harry asks. "How have we gone almost 20 years without seeing it." 

"I don't know. But the next movie night we have I know what we're watching." Niall says. They all nod in agreement. 

They play for a few hours. The more tired they get, the more ridiculous the answers become. Niall becomes very giggly about an hour in and almost pees himself from laughing at every single answer. Harry did pee himself when Louis wrote that N. A. W. P. stood for Nippless Americans Wanting Peace. 

When it's midnight, they decide that it's time to go to bed. They say goodnight and retire to their rooms. Harry and Louis quickly change into pajamas and brush their teeth. 

Harry collapses on the bed. Louis laughs and crawls in next to him. They cuddle up next to each other and close their eyes. 

"Hey Louis." Harry whispers. 

"What?" Louis mumbles. 

"We live together." Harry says. 

"We've lived together since you were 7." Louis says. 

"Yeah I know, but now we, like, are properly living together." Harry whispers, grabbing onto Louis' hand. 

"Mhm." Louis grumbles out. 

"Hey Louis." Harry says, there's no response, but Harry keeps talking anyway. "Can we get married?" He asks, rolling over so that he can face Louis. 

Louis is fast asleep. 

"I guess not today." Harry laughs. "But someday." He says, rolling over and turning off the bedside light.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and please let me know what you think!


	20. Everything

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's over! I don't even know to say, honestly. Thank you so so much for everybody who has left comments, kudos, or even just read it. Really, it all means so much to me. 
> 
> There will also be an epilogue! It should be out within the next couple of weeks. 
> 
> And I actually finished this before my birthday which was my goal and yeah I'm very proud of myself I never finish things on time *gives self a pat on the back*
> 
> Thank you again for reading and I hope you enjoy!

6 months later 

"Louis wake up." Harry says, shaking Louis' shoulder. Louis grumbles and rolls over. He throws his pillow over his head and tries to block out Harry. 

"No." He mumbles into the sheets. Harry throws himself down next to him. 

"But today is the day!" He says excitedly. 

Louis throws the pillow off the bed. He sits up and jumps out of bed. "I forgot!" He says, running to his closet and pulling out a shirt. Harry laughs. 

"We can get going whenever you're dressed. The bags are already in the car and we can stop somewhere and eat." He says, standing up. Louis quickly pulls the shirt over his head and strips off his pants. He picks a cleanish pair of jeans up off the floor and pulls them on. 

"I'm ready." He says, grabbing Harry's hand and pulling him out of their bedroom. Liam and Zayn smile at them when they enter the living room. Louis stops and looks around. "Where's Niall?" He asks. 

"Still sleeping." Liam answers, looking at the mound of blankets on Niall's bed that he assumes Niall must be under. 

"Well tell him we said bye." Harry says, giving Zayn and Liam a hug. 

"We will." Zayn assures them. "Have fun on your road trip." Harry smiles.

"Thanks." He says. Louis gives them hugs goodbye and they head out the door. 

When they're outside, they race each other to the car. Louis gets their first and Harry pouts about it for a couple of minutes, but gets over it when Louis turns on the radio. He channel surfs until a familiar song fills the car. Harry's eyes light up. 

"It's our song!" He says, clapping his hands. 

"This is our song?" Louis asks. Harry nods. 

"Yeah we sang it together one time." He says. Louis giggles.

"We've sang hundreds, maybe thousands, of songs together." He says, turning up the radio. Harry bounces around in his seat. He waits until the chorus starts, then he begins singing. 

_Wouldn't it be nice if we could wake up_   
_In the morning when the day is new_   
_And after having spent the day together_   
_Hold each other close the whole night through_

He grabs Louis' hand which startles Louis and the car swerves slightly. "Be careful." He warns, trying to focus on the road. Harry pouts at him, then continues singing. Louis rolls his eyes and sings along. 

_The happy times together we've been spending_   
_I wish that every kiss was never ending_   
_Wouldn't it be nice_

Harry laughs and turns the radio down. "See?" He says. "That's our song. Expect when we first sang it we didn't have what we have now. We have the thing that they're singing about. Cool huh?" Louis shakes his head.

"But the song isn't called 'isn't it nice'." He explains. "So it makes no sense why that is still our song." 

"So let's pick a new song." Harry says, throwing his hands in the air. 

Louis laughs. "Why did I decide going on a road trip with you would be fun?" He mumbles to himself. Harry's jaw drops. 

"Rude." He says, putting his hands in his lap and staring out the window. 

"You know I don't mean it." Louis promises, reaching over and patting Harry's hands. 

"Where are we going anyway?" Harry asks. Louis shakes his head. 

"You don't get to know." 

Harry groans and puts his hands behind his head. "You're annoying." He mutters. Louis nods. 

"Yep." 

"And I don't like you." Harry adds. 

"Good." 

"And I'm lying." 

Louis smiles to himself. "I know." He says. 

They drive for a few more hours. Harry decides that their new song is Everything by Michael Bublè and when Louis says that he doesn't really know that song, Harry plays it on repeat for about an hour until Louis starts to sing along. 

Louis stops the car in front of a forest after driving for only 5 hours. Harry gives him a questioning look as he gets out of the car. He walks around to the other side and opens the door for Harry. 

"Are we here?" Harry asks, unbuckling his seatbelt and getting out. Louis nods. 

"Pretty much. We need to do about a 20 minute hike, but that's it." He says, reaching out and grabbing Harry's hand. He pulls him in the direction of a path and walks slightly in front so that he can move aside tree branches. 

"Should I close my eyes or something? Is it a surprise?" Harry asks after about 15 minutes of walking. Louis shakes his head. 

"Nope! There's a surprise involved but this isn't it." He says. 

When the get to the end of the path, Louis makes a new one through some bushes. He keeps walking until the trees and bushes stop, and they walk into a meadow. Harry's eyes light up. 

"I- it's a meadow!" He says, bouncing up and down. "Like in our bucket list." 

Louis smiles and sits down in the grass. Harry sits down next to him. Louis reaches into the pocket of his pants and pulls something out. He keeps it hidden in his hands, and turns to face Harry. 

"Listen." He says, looking down at his hands. "Harry, I want to talk and right now, I really just want you to listen. I know you’ll probably want to say something but please, please just wait until I’m done."

  Harry nods. "You're not breaking up with me are you?" He asks. Louis gives him a pleading look. "Sorry." He mumbles. "I'll listen."

Louis takes a deep breath, and begins.  “Ok so, I don’t really know how to say this, so I’m just gonna say it. I love you, Harry. I love you a lot. I love you more than I ever planned on loving you, and I love you more than I ever wanted to. I love everything about you, and I'd love to explain how much I love you but I don't think id be able to." 

Harry blushes and looks down at the grass. He plays with a few blades and lets them blow around between his fingers. 

Louis takes a full breath and starts talking again. "I love spending time with you and I even love spending time away from you because it makes the times when we are together, even more special.”  

“I know that we're young and I know that this is crazy but... I've been in love with you since I was nine. Most people are never lucky enough to have a love like that, and I guess... I guess I'm just too selfish to let you go." He says, handing Harry a small box. Harry's eyes widen. His hands shake so much that he almost can't open the tiny box up. However, he does, and inside, he sees a little Life car with two little blue pegs in it. 

He smiles and laughs and bursts into tears all at the same time. Louis takes a couple of breaths, trying to get his heart rate down. 

"I don't have a ring. But I'll get one. And I know that you don't want to get married until you're older and have a nice job and I good income and all that. So, I'll wait. This is just a promise that I'll love you until you're ready to get married, and that I'll love you everyday after that." 

Harry looks at the car in his hand, then back at Louis. He waits a couple seconds, before leaping off the ground and giving Louis the biggest hug he can manage. Louis falls backwards onto the cool grass. "You didn't have to drive five hours to ask me to marry you. I would have said yes at home. Or at school. Or at Walmart. I would have said yes anywhere." He whispers into Louis' ear. 

Louis laughs nervously. "I was going to ask you in a meadow about five minutes away from the house." He says. "But I got super nervous and kept driving. I checked on your phone for a meadow while you were in that rest stop." 

"So if we were only going to go somewhere five minutes away from the house why did you make me pack a bag?" Harry asks. 

"Because we're also going to New York." Louis says. Harry squeals. "Our flight leaves in about 7 hours. I was planning on us going back to the house and celebrating with the boys, that is, hoping you were going to say yes, but now we can just drive straight there." He says, sitting up. Harry pulls him back down.

"We still have time." He mumbles. "Let's stay here a little longer." 

Louis curls up next to him and they stare at the clouds. When Louis tells Harry that they have to leave now, or they'd miss their flight, Harry sighs and sits up. 

Louis is about to stand up when Harry leans forward and gives him a kiss. "I love you." He says. "And you're my bestest best friend in the whole wide world." 

"Still?" Louis smiles, getting up. 

Harry reaches his hand out and let's Louis pull him up. "Still." He says, lacing their fingers together and giving him another kiss on the cheek.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and please let me know what you think! :)


	21. The House at the End of the Street

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long. So now it is officially done!

They got the call on a sunny morning in the middle of July. 8 years had past since Harry's uncle had kicked him out. They still lived with Liam, Niall, and Zayn in the small apartment. 

Liam is the one who answers the phone. "Hello." He says. There's a short pause while the person on the other line talks. "Sure." Liam says, passing the phone to Harry who is sitting on the couch. "It's for you." He says. 

Harry takes the phone from him and puts it up to his ear. "Hello?" He asks. 

"Harry, it's Lou." She says. Harry smiles. 

"Hi Lou!" He says. 

"Harry." She says, sounding serious. Harry stops smiling. 

"What?" He ask. There's a pause. 

"Harry your uncle has passed away." She says. 

"What?" Harry says, sitting up. 

"I'm so sorry Harry, I didn't know how to tell you." She says. "I know you two didn't get along but he's your only family left so it still must be hard." 

Louis sees Harry looking upset and walks over to him. He sits down next to him and leans his head on his shoulder. "It's fine." Harry says, looking down. "I didn't like him anyway, you know?" 

"Since you and Gemma are the only two people in the family, and we haven't been in contact with her in 10 years and have no idea where she is, everything goes to you." She says. Harry's eyes widen. 

"Everything?" He asks. 

"Everything." She confirms. 

"The house?" He asks. 

"Even the house." She says. "And your family owns it, so you only have to pay for the water, electricity and cable." Louis hears her and lifts his head up." I'm planning the funeral. Do you think you can go through all his stuff and figure out what to do with it by the end of the week?" She asks. 

"Yeah." Harry says. "Louis and I will be over later today." 

"I'll be out but there will be a key under the mat." She says.

"Bye." He says, hanging up the phone. 

Niall looks around at them, then at Liam. He gets up from his chair and runs over to him. "What happened?" He whispers. Liam scrunches his eyebrows together and shrugs. 

"I don't know." He whispers back. Niall looks over at Louis and Harry.

"Everything ok?" He asks. 

"My uncle died." Harry says. Niall's jaw drops. Zayn walks out of his room and stands with Liam and Niall. 

"Are you ok?" He asks. Harry nods. 

He gets up from the couch and walks to the kitchen counter. He grabs his keys and shoves them into his pocket. "Do you want to come?" He asks Louis. 

"Of course." Louis says, standing up. He walks into their room and comes back with their shoes. He tosses Harry's to him and slides him own on. 

"We'll be back in a few hours." Harry says. Louis grabs his hand and laces their fingers together. He runs his thumb over Harry's knuckle, trying to make him feel better. Harry opens the front door and they walk into the hall. 

"You wanna talk?" Louis asks. 

"I'm fine." Harry says. Louis raises one one of his eyebrows. 

"I've known you for 16 years, Harry. I can tell when you aren't fine." He says. Harry sighs. 

"I have no one." He says. Louis stops walking. 

"What does that mean?" He asks. 

"The only other person in my family that is still alive is my sister and nobody knows where she is. My uncle was terrible but he was the only real family I had left." He says. Louis shakes his head. 

"You have no family. That doesn't mean you have no one. I know you're upset. You don't have to pretend like you're not." 

Harry nods. Louis reaches out and wraps his arms around him. Harry rests his head on Louis' shoulder and takes a few deep breaths. 

"You'll never leave me right?" He asks. Louis chuckles. 

"You're not getting rid of me that easily." He says. "I'm pretty sure I'm going to live forever." 

Harry smiles. "I wouldn't be surprised." He says. "If anyone would, it's you." 

They get to the car and Louis opens the passenger door. Harry starts to walk over to the driver side when Louis stops him. "I'm driving today." He says, pushing Harry into the car. He closes the door and walks to the other side. 

"You're a terrible driver." Harry says. "I don't know if you driving will make me feel any better." 

Louis rolls his eyes. "You're funny." He says. "Cause we both know that I'm a much better driver than you." 

"Not true." Harry grins. 

"So true." Louis says, starting the car. "Who got their license on the first try?" 

"Doesn't matter." Harry mumbles. 

"That's what I thought." Louis says, driving out of the parking lot. 

Harry turns on the radio and they listen to music for the rest of the drive. When they get to the house, Louis tells Harry that he's going to be a gentleman and open the door for him. 

"Is this a date?" Harry asks. Louis rolls his eyes and closes the driver side door. He quickly runs around the car and opens Harry's door. 

"No I'm just a gentleman." Louis says. Harry laughs and gets out of the car. They start walking up to the house. 

"Wait." Harry says, stopping Louis and pulling him next to him. 

"What?" Louis asks. 

"Look." Harry says, pointing at the house. 

"The house?" Louis asks, confused. 

"Our house." Harry says. Louis smiles and wraps his arm around Harry's and they look up at the house together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked it! Please let me know what you think!


End file.
